New tunnel linking Kent and Essex will add 5m tonnes of CO2

A British government report published in March provisionally estimated the UK carbon emissions in 2019 to be 351.5 million tonnes. The traffic created by the road is expected to generate 3.2 million tonnes over 60 years.

The Lower Thames crossing (LTC) the UK’s biggest roads project since the M25, a flagship project in the UK’s programme, and supported by the CBI and AA, will emit 2 million tonnes of the greenhouse gas. The scheme is said to bring economic boom on both sides of the river and relieve congestion on the orbital road.

Campaigners say the tunnel should never have been approved without a debate on the projected CO2 and should never have been approved without considering impact of CO2 and further demanded the government freeze all projects that will increase emissions.

A  Highways England spokesperson said “The Lowe Thames Crossing is the UK’s most ambitious road project in a generation, which will add billions to the national , regional and local economies by almost doubling road capacity between Kent and Essex and reducing delays,”

This is happening  amid prime minister’s  policy for phasing out petrol and diesel cars by 2030 and takes seven million dirty diesel and petrol cars off our roads, which could help add £3bn to the UK economy and create 14, 000 jobs in auto  industry. The size of the potential EV market created by an early phase out and existing UK auto manufacturing industries expertise in assembly put the UK in a strong position to develop its EV industry  and could account for 47 per cent of EV demand and produce 1millon electric vehicle per year  by 2030.

Environmentalists say the statistics makes a ridicule of the prime minister’s claim to lead on climate change.