Examination of Witnesses (Questions 335
- 339)
WEDNESDAY 26 APRIL 2006
MS HEATHER
LEGGATE AND
MR DAVID
LAPTHORN
Q335 Chairman: Good afternoon and
welcome. I apologise for keeping you well over time, but there
was a number of issues which colleagues wanted to follow up. By
way of general introduction, would you like to say what you think
the role of water freight is or can be in helping Britain meet
its targets for reducing carbon emissions?
Dr Leggate: The various studies
show that the carbon emissions from water freight transport is
substantially less than road, and indeed rail. Depending on the
studies you look at, we can see that in terms of inland shipping
and coastal shipping carbon dioxide emissions are about 63% less
than road and about 25% less than rail. There is actually a study
by the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution which demonstrated
even higher percentages. So in terms of carbon emissions, water
freight is a very effective form of transport and a lot of the
infrastructure is already in place, so it is not a question of
new technology, it is already there.
Q336 Chairman: Were you disappointed
that the Climate Change Programme Review did not refer to the
potential of shifting freight from road to water?
Dr Leggate: We are always disappointed
to be forgotten.
Q337 Chairman: Why do you think that
was? Given from what you have said there is an obvious agenda,
why do you think they ignored it?
Dr Leggate: I think generally
water freight does not get very much attention at all and it is
something which is not even thought about. I was listening to
the evidence given just now and water was not even mentioned and
I am really quite shocked about that, because in terms of our
organisation, Sea and Water, we are actually quite happy to promote
rail as well as water. There is talk about ports, but I think
we should also talk about the potential for coastal and inland
shipping in any freight transport strategy.
Q338 Chairman: What do you think
the keys are to shifting freight from road to water?
Dr Leggate: What do we need to
achieve it?
Q339 Chairman: Yes, what policies,
instruments?
Dr Leggate: I think there are
various things. One is trying to streamline the planning process
which does not allow for easy development of ports and waterside
facilities, so I think a lot needs to be done in that area. There
is also the issue that in terms of competing with road transport
there is not this level playing field that everybody talks about
because road users do not pay the true cost in terms of externalities,
and in certain areas that means it is quite hard for some shipping
operators to compete with their own transport. I think that is
an area which needs addressing and will presumably be addressed
when road pricing actually comes in. Thirdly, there needs to be
some investment in the infrastructure, particularly as far as
inland waterways are concerned, and it is actually not very much
in terms of money. One good example is for the Olympic Games and
we have been pushing quite hard for water to be used for transporting
to construction sites and actually servicing those construction
sites, but actually there needs to be some investment in the waterways
in certain locks, which is relatively small, round about 10 to
£15 million. It is very difficult to get people to take that
decision, although the construction companies themselves are very
keen to use water in that instance and are prepared to invest
in new vessels in order to do that. Estimates by British Waterways
show that that sort of initiative, using the waterways to service
the construction sites, could take half a million lorries off
London's roads. We are finding it difficult to get people to take
those decisions. In fact the planning permission was given on
the basis of road transportation, which does not help.
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