Extreme heatwaves in the UK have prompted a transport charity to call for urgent decarbonisation of the nation’s travel network through cycling and walking. The Campaign for Better Transport has joined 54 civil society organisations to spearhead a call to the government to shift journeys away from private cars.

The charity’s chief executive, Ben Plowden, has called for an increase in “the proportion of journeys made by public transport, shared transport, walking, wheeling and cycling.”

“With the majority of journeys under five miles, this will benefit local communities, making it easier for people to get to shops, schools, health services and see friends and family,” Plowden said. “It’s really a question around getting on with the sort of investment primarily in local transport improvements that would allow all of those things to happen simultaneously and as part of the same process.”

Following a summer that the Met Office says could be the ‘warmest on record’, the Campaign for Better Transport has highlighted that transport contributes almost a third of the UK’s total greenhouse gas emissions — more than any other sector. To reduce this, the Campaign is calling for a huge ‘modal shift’ away from cars.

“That needs to be driven by central government setting an overall target for enabling people to change how they travel, away from private vehicle use and to be able to choose public transport, walks, cycle, wheeled and shared mobility”.

In response, the government has pointed to its £4.5bn active travel investment. However, it has failed to set targets to reduce the number of journeys made by private vehicles, instead aiming to give people a broader range of options in terms of getting around.

A Department for Transport spokesperson told The Guardian: “We’re giving people real choice in how they travel by making buses, trains and active travel cheaper, more reliable and easier to access – including lowering the bus fare cap to £2, freezing rail fares, and investing £4.5bn in cycling and walking”.

The urgent government request was made by the Campaign for Better Transport in conjunction with 54 partners.

“That such a range of organisations have come together to make this statement shows the urgent need for stronger action in response to the climate emergency, which has had such a devastating impact on communities across the country this summer”, Plowden said.

“The heatwaves and wildfires, the harm to people, nature and infrastructure, are just a taste of things to come if we do not act urgently”.