The study tracks freight-related CO₂ output across all UK regions and calculates how many electric vans would be required locally to offset those emissions entirely.
Latest Year-on-Year Changes (2022 → 2023):
Wales: 2.15bn → 2.07bn kg CO₂ (↓ 80m) – EV vans: 144 → 138
Scotland: 4.22bn → 4.13bn (↓ 90m) – EV vans: 282 → 275
Northern Ireland: 990m → 979m (↓ 11m) – EV vans: 66 → 65
North East England: 1.39bn → 1.37bn (↓ 23m) – EV vans: 93 → 91
North West England: 4.80bn → 4.67bn (↓ 124m) – EV vans: 320 → 312
East Midlands: 4.49bn → 4.38bn (↓ 112m) – EV vans: 299 → 292
Yorkshire and the Humber: 4.33bn → 4.23bn (↓ 101m) – EV vans: 289 → 282
West Midlands: 4.73bn → 4.60bn (↓ 135m) – EV vans: 316 → 307
East of England: 5.47bn → 5.38bn (↓ 98m) – EV vans: 365 → 358
Inner London: 660m → 647m (↓ 14m) – EV vans: 44 → 43
Outer London: 1.59bn → 1.53bn (↓ 55m) – EV vans: 106 → 102
South East England: 6.65bn → 6.48bn (↓ 179m) – EV vans: 444 → 432
South West England: 4.11bn → 4.05bn (↓ 65m) – EV vans: 275 → 270
The updated research shows that every region in the country recorded a decrease in CO₂ emissions in 2023, but that, currently, South East England remains the highest emitter, producing over three times Wales’s total, despite a 179 million kilogram reduction.
A transition to electric vans at scale, as shown above, would neutralise regional freight emissions entirely.
For additional information:
Understanding CO₂ emissions and the path to carbon neutrality in UK freight
