GREEN FREIGHT POLICY NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: may 2021 :: RMTnews 13 RAIL FREIGHT USAGE FALLS: North Rail-freight terminal, Port of Felixstowe, Suffolk Following the publication of new government figures to boost freight support RMT said that the government policy to increase green freight transport in advance of COP26, the UN Climate Summit due to take place in Glasgow in November, was not fit for purpose. Official government statistics show that the percentage of freight moved and lifted by rail has fallen continuously for the last 10 years whilst road freight has increased during the same period. As a result, the union said that the government must show much greater ambition to create a huge modal shift from road to rail and water as part of the green economic recovery and to meet emission reduction targets. The government also set a new legally binding target to cut the country's greenhouse gas emissions by 78 per cent by 2035, figures released by the Department of Transport reveal that rail freight companies received funding from the taxpayer to move more freight in the pandemic whilst cutting jobs. At the same time coastal shipping companies continue to ignore environmental subsidies which could provide work for UK seafarers made redundant during the crisis. RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said that the government’s strategy to build back better from the Covid-19 crisis and to slash carbon emissions simply does not tally with their plans for massive cuts to railway budgets. “We need the ambition, capacity and skills to massively increase the volume of freight moved by rail and water every year, yet the government’s own statistics show that piecemeal funding to rail freight continues whilst the government plans huge cuts to jobs on our railway and refuse to intervene to protect seafarer jobs. “Transport workers are green workers. In the year of COP26 the Government has to get serious about using public money to cut pollution, increase jobs and deliver carbon free public transport networks across the UK as soon as possible,” he said. The COP26 summit is designed to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. GREEN FREIGHT POLICY NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE Rail freight continues to fall despite government commitments to lower greenhouse gas emissions