33. Drive Less
For this weeks’ #52climatesolutions, we ask you to drive less. Can you limit your car use to essential trips only? Can you rely on local networks or your own feet?
Road transport accounts for roughly 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions. To keep the rise in global heating below a 1.5oC increase, we have to radically shift behaviour around driving - starting now! Without drastic changes, transport emissions will increase at a faster rate than emissions from the other energy end-use sectors (reaching c. 12 Gt CO2eq/yr by 2050, based on IPCC reporting). Our down-shifts will also need to account for the increased transport demand per capita in developing countries, where rising incomes and development of infrastructure are making driving accessible to more people than ever.
Common solutions offered to reducing road transport emissions include driving more fuel-efficient vehicles, using “cleaner” fuels (or waste-fuels), converting petrol cars to electric vehicles, or driving electric vehicles (because an EV powered by renewable sources should produce zero emissions to drive). But all of these maintain a certain status quo around travelling and each perpetuates the demand for large amounts of earth’s resources. EVs require mining of rare earth minerals such as lithium and cobalt – and lithium mining, for example, is degrading ecosystems in Chile.
Another solution is to simply drive less. With fewer vehicles, there is less wear and tear on fossil-fuel-constructed roads, less congestion, fewer emissions, and fewer resources wasted. Even a small reduction can have dramatic results on a larger scale. This will be made easier with better designed cities.
For this weeks’ #52climatesolutions, we ask you to drive less. Can you limit your vehicular driving to essential trips only? Stack your errands so that you get more essential tasks done in a single trip, rather than making a separate trip for each errand. It can be easier to drive less by supporting more local businesses and services, and shopping online (although benefits will vary according to what you buy and where it comes from!). When you need to get from A to B, can you utilise a lower-carbon transport system, such as public transport, walking or cycling? Skateboarding or scootering? Carpooling or car-share? The solution that best fits will depend on where you live, but thankfully there are many alternatives!
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