Transform Scotland has today sent a parliamentary briefing to all Members of the Scottish Parliament ahead of this afternoon’s debate, ‘Delivering on Climate Change and the Just Transition’.
In our briefing paper, we highlight the important recommendations made by the Just Transition Commission ‘Advice on a Green Recovery’ report on transport investment, buses, and electric vehicle infrastructure and call for these to be taken forward in the Just Transition transport sectoral plan.
Specifically, we call for re-prioritisation of transport spending towards low-carbon travel modes and away from high-carbon road building. We also reiterate the justice case for urgent action on bus priority infrastructure, on which the Government has made limited progress since it promised transformational levels of funding in its 2019 Programme for Government over three years ago.
In light of the recent report by Transport Scotland into the safety of women and girls on public transport, which brought attention to the gender inequalities present in Scotland’s public transport, we also argue that the Just Transition plan must address inequalities in the transport industry. In particular, fair and decent work opportunities must be accessible and available to women and marginalised groups, to ensure that the decarbonised transport network of the future reflects and serves the needs of all.
Transform’s policy officer, Laura Hyde-White, said:
“The urgency of the climate crisis demands that we take swift and coordinated action to tackle emissions from transport — the sector responsible for largest share of emissions in Scotland.
“Yet, the process of greening our transport network must be fair and inclusive. We strongly welcome the Just Transition Commission’s recommendations here and argue that we must avoid replicating mistakes which (re)embed inequalities. We must direct investment away from traffic-inducing road-building projects and into sustainable alternatives. And, we must address the lack of representation of women and marginalised communities in the transport workforce to ensure we build a zero-carbon transport system that serves the needs of all.”
