The Environment Objective aims to protect the built and natural environment. This includes reducing the direct and indirect impacts of transport facilities and their use on the environment of both users and non-users. The environment impacts of concern include noise, atmospheric pollution of differing kinds, vibration, formal intrusion, severance, and impacts on the countryside and wildlife, ancient monuments and historic buildings and so on. While some of these can be readily quantified, others such as severance are much more difficult to define and analyse. More recently, the Environment Objective has been defined more widely to include reduction of the impact of transport on the global environment, particularly through emission of carbon dioxide, but also by consumption of scarce and non-renewable resources.
The Environment Objective has 10 sub-objectives that reflect the various impacts of concern:
- to reduce noise
- to improve local air quality
- to reduce greenhouse gases
- to protect and enhance the landscape
- to protect and enhance the townscape
- to protect the heritage of historic resources
- to support biodiversity
- to protect the water environment
- to encourage physical fitness
- to improve journey ambience