Adonis backs FTA’s Logistics Carbon Reduction Scheme

Lord Adonis, the Secretary of State for Transport, has backed a new scheme from the Freight Transport Association (FTA) to report the logistics sector’s carbon footprint publicly.

In a letter to FTA confirming the Department for Transport’s support for the Logistics Carbon Reduction Scheme (LCRS), Adonis acknowledged the need to reduce carbon emissions from logistics – which accounts for 30 per cent of overall domestic transport emissions, the majority coming from the road sector – as an important part of the DfT’s Carbon Reduction Strategy.

Rachael Dillon, FTA’s Climate Change Manager, said:

“We are grateful to the DfT for its support and for recognising the importance of the Logistics Carbon Reduction Scheme and its potential for identifying a credible reduction target for the logistics sector that we can all work towards.

“Together with the DfT we will develop a robust and consistent carbon measurement and reporting method that will be fair, accurate and eminently useful in the interests of mitigating the sector’s environmental impact.”

The LCRS aims to record, report and reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the logistics sector. It already has the backing of some of FTA’s leading members, which together operate over 23,000 commercial vehicles.

Under the scheme, LCRS members will be committed to submit their fuel data to FTA for analysis to provide an accurate picture of the logistics sector’s carbon footprint. This will allow government to base its carbon reduction policy on hard evidence.

The LCRS is available to all operators of commercial vehicles. Interested companies can contact rdillon@fta.co.uk to find out more.