The government should halt all new roads unless there are exceptional circumstances, the government’s climate advisers are likely to say next week.
On Wednesday the Committee on Climate Change will publish its latest report on the UK’s progress in dealing with the climate crisis. Speaking at Glastonbury on Friday, the climate change committee chair, Lord Deben, said new roads inevitably increased traffic and emissions.
The report is likely to advise that any new developments that make climate breakdown worse should be banned.
If the recommendation is followed through, it would sound the death knell for the government’s road-building programme – and had it been adopted earlier, it would have meant the high-speed HS2 rail line would never have been approved.
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