‘Focus on carbon, not fuel duty,’ says FTA

According to The Times, the Freight Transport Association (FTA) has called for the UK freight industry to focus its lobbying on carbon emissions, rather than just fuel duty. For that matter, speaking at the FTA’s so-called ‘Cutting Carbon, Cutting Costs’ conference, James Hookham, Policy and Communications Director for the FTA says:

“We need to find another way forward and present a carbon-management plan. We simply have to come up with a ‘Plan B,’ which is seen as a more effective way of reducing carbon emissions – in comparison with what the Government is already doing. If Plan A is to tax us into submission, the only way forwards is a Plan B.”

What is more, Hookham suggests that as an alternative to fuel duty, the road transport industry could propose a carbon-reduction obligation to be included in the O-Licence, as a more appropriate and far more beneficial variant solution. In addition to all that, the Road Haulage Association (RHA) stated that it “fully supports FTA’s stance.”

All in all, it has been stated and revealed that the UK road haulage industry can expect a wide range of legislation on both reducing and measuring emissions in the coming years, whilst voluntary reporting of carbon emissions will be launched by Defra, in late October this year. Regulations for compulsory reporting will be in place by 2012.