The Freight Transport Association (FTA) has warned the haulage industry that it could face the "nightmare" of increased taxation and legislation unless it anticipates and influences government policies to combat climate change.
Prime minister Gordon Brown addressed the Major Economies Forum in London this week, urging world leaders they have only 50 days to reach effective agreement on global warming.
James Hookham, FTA managing director of policy and communications, says if the haulage industry does not act to influence government thinking, it could a victim of unfair taxation and legislation.
"The nightmare is that the government relies on the fuel duty escalator or other statutory targets [to reduce emissions], which will only add more costs for a hard-pressed industry," he says. 
"The costs could be unknown. It would be unwelcome and outside our control."
As reported in Motor Transport in July 2009, Hookham has called for road haulage and logistics firms to join a pilot community to establish a base-line for carbon emissions and carbon reporting in the road transport industry.
This group held its first meeting of around 25 individuals earlier this month and will be ready to invite the industry to become involved in measuring and reducing emission around Christmas.
"Right now we have the opportunity of doing things that work for us and help the government in making reductions," Hookham says. "We do not want anyone to think that transport is not doing its bit. If we are making logistics more efficient, we should be getting the credit for it in carbon terms."
Hookham pointed out that CO2 from 
HGVs has been more or less stable since 1996, despite the economic growth over the same period.
In December, world leaders will meet in Copenhagen at the United Nations Climate Change Conference and are expected to negotiate a replacement for the Kyoto Protocol.