Freight transport companies must position themselves for growth in a carbon constrained world.

Environmental protection campaign group Total Environment Centre (TEC) this week released its final report on the freight transport sector and climate change, pointing to the need for the sector to prepare for national efforts to combat climate change.

"Environmentalists and the industry can work together to get its house in order and be economically and environmentally sustainable. The community push to get effective policies is unstoppable," says TEC director, Jeff Angel.

The report, Freight Transport & Climate Change: Exposures & Opportunities, reveals that greenhouse gas emissions from trucks, light commercial vehicles, rail, coastal shipping and air freight are poised to double from 1990 levels by 2020. When considered alongside the emissions reductions that climate science is calling for, the proportion of national emissions produced by freight transport may more than triple by 2020 - increasing from 4.07% in 1990 to 13.46% by 2020.

"This report is designed to help transport companies understand what climate change means for them - their exposures to both climate change and climate policy, what they can do to manage these exposures, and how they stand to gain from efforts to combat climate change," explains Cameron Eren, co-ordinator of the TEC's Industry Partnership Program and author of the report.

"Rising costs are designed to penalise energy inefficiency. Transport companies that pursue appropriate fuel switching and modal switching opportunities and maximise energy efficiency will safeguard existing margins against rising costs and position themselves for growth in a carbon-constrained world," says Eren.