That warning was released overnight by the International Transport Forum as Australia trails its peers in adopting electric vehicles (EVs), which made up 3.8 per cent of new car sales last year compared to 8 per cent in the US, 23 per cent in the UK and 25 per cent in Europe.
The International Transport Forum, an intergovernmental think tank within the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, predicted in its 2023 outlook report that current and committed decarbonisation measures will result in transport carbon emissions falling only 3 per cent by 2050 compared to 2019 levels.
“That is nowhere near where we need to be to keep global warming in check – we really need to up our game,” ITF secretary-general Young Tae Kim said during a press conference at the group’s annual summit in Leipzig, Germany.
Transport produces 23 per cent of global emissions and 19 per cent of Australia’s, with about half of that from cars and other private vehicles. The ITF projected that a growing global population would increase passenger transport demand by 78 per cent by mid-century and freight transport would double, wiping out gains made from decarbonisation efforts.
However, Kim said more aggressive government action could lower transport emissions by 80 per cent over the next 25 years, which would be in line with the Paris Climate Agreement goal of limiting global warming to “well below” 2 degrees.
Governments could achieve that by encouraging: the faster uptake of EVs and other low-emissions transport technology; greater use of public transport, walking and cycling; and, more freight movements by rail rather than road. Sustainable fuels, such as hydrogen, needed to be advanced to decarbonise the aviation and maritime industries.
The Albanese government released a federal EV strategy in…
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