Welcome to the Green Alliance podcast. We're at the think tank dedicated to achieving ambitious leadership on the climate and nature emergency.

I'm Nick Davies, head of climate policy at Green Alliance. And today we're going to be lifting the hood on one of the most pressing challenges in the UK's journey to net zero emissions, transport.

Transport touches all of our lives, whether we're commuting

to work, visiting family and friends, or heading abroad on holidays, but transport's driving

some big problems. It's responsible for around a third of the UK's climate-changing emissions,

and it's the biggest cause of poor air quality in urban areas which shortens the lives of tens of thousands

of people every year. And congestion is slowing down our economy to the tune of £7.5 billion a year.

And if all that wasn't bad enough, it's not so great with wildlife either. Roads sever habitats

and little bits of tyre and breakware that break down on our roads,

get washed off our roads and into streams and rivers, polluting fresh water sources and harming

biodiversity. Big news was breaking on transport last week as we recorded this podcast. On Friday,

Louise Haig resigned as Transport Secretary. She'd been the youngest member of the

Cabinet and was highly regarded the environmental community for her passion and energy, and the ambitious

agenda she was bringing forward on public transport, cycling and in defending the zero-emission

vehicle mandate. This came only a day off she'd unveiled her vision for an integrated national

transport strategy for

England. It's going to join up rail and bus services with active travel, make it easier for

people to get around without a car. Also came against the backdrop of carmakers' pressure

in government to slow up the electric vehicle transition after struggling carmakers'

Stalantis announced that it was closing a factory in Luton.

Swindon South MP Heidi Alexander is the new transport secretary. She's got a wealth of experience

of the Transport brief as former deputy mayor of London for transport, where she helped to bring

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