A report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has highlighted the urgent need to drastically curb CO2 emissions in a bid to slow down and stop global warming before it wrecks the ecosystems that sustain our existence: World leaders ‘have moral obligation to act’ after UN climate report. This comes a short while after Highways England announced the next phase of ‘consultation’ into the proposal for the Lower Thames Crossing (LTC) and the associated road network that will serve it: Coming soon – the next phase of the Lower Thames Crossing ‘CONsultation’.

The IPCC report calls for governments to take urgent, drastic action to reduce emissions. So, will the government call on Highways England to reconsider the LTC with a view to scrapping it and move towards developing a more sustainable transport infrastructure? Bear in mind, there’s a proposal for a cross river tram link connecting Thurrock with Dartford and Gravesham: KenEx Thames Transit tram from Bluewater to Lakeside takes step forward. Will the government wake up to the seriousness of the situation or will it be business as usual?

Somehow, with a no deal Brexit and the possibility of some shock doctrine disaster capitalism to follow, we suspect that for the government, it may well be business as usual. Particularly given the overlap there is between right wing Eurosceptics and climate change deniers: The address where Eurosceptics and climate change sceptics rub shoulders. Despite all of this, with the release of the IPCC report, right is on the side of those of us who want to call a halt to this scheme and move towards a more sustainable transport infrastructure. It’s game on and there’s everything to play for…