{"id":1013,"date":"2006-10-17T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2006-10-17T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsite.hacan.org.uk\/?p=1013"},"modified":"2019-05-13T18:31:16","modified_gmt":"2019-05-13T18:31:16","slug":"are-the-uks-aviation-and-climate-change-policies-impossible-bed-fellows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hacan.org.uk\/?p=1013","title":{"rendered":"Are the UK’s aviation and climate change policies impossible bed-fellows?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A report launched today by the University of Oxford presents new evidence,
\nwhich shows to what extent the Government’s policies on aviation fly in the
\nface of policies on climate change. It says that by 2050, carbon dioxide
\nemissions from UK aviation could be four to ten times higher than 1990
\nlevels, representing up to two thirds of the government’s total emission
\ntarget for that year.<\/p>\n

The report ‘Predict and Decide’ is being launched by the All Party
\nParliamentary Sustainable Aviation Group at the House of Lords to an invited
\naudience of MPs, aviation industry representatives, policy makers and other
\nstakeholders from the tourism industry. It brings together, for the first
\ntime, a range of forecasts of future aviation emissions and shows that, even
\nwhen all realistic options for improvements in technology and air traffic
\nmanagement are considered, climate change targets can not be met without
\ncontrolling demand. <\/p>\n

Current Government policy supports an expansion in airports which will
\nenable passenger movements to more than double – from 200 million in 2003
\nto 470 million in 2030. But all forecasts of the associated changes in
\nemissions suggest that this will make official government targets to reduce
\ncarbon dioxide emissions by 60 per cent by 2050 almost impossible to
\nachieve.<\/p>\n

The report also points out that the vast majority of flights are made by
\nbetter-off sections of society and the recent growth in flights has come
\nmainly from existing travellers flying more often, particularly for
\nholidays. Three out of every four leisure passengers at major UK airports
\nare from the top three socio-economic groups and there is little evidence
\nthat the less well-off are really benefiting from the low price of air
\ntravel.<\/p>\n

The conclusion of the report, commissioned by the government-funded UK
\nEnergy Research Centre, is that politicians are going to have to radically
\nalter their strategy in order to cut emissions sufficiently, by looking at
\nways of curbing air travel overall.<\/p>\n

Dr Brenda Boardman, the project leader from Oxford University’s
\nEnvironmental Change Institute, said: ‘The Government has to confront the
\ncontradictions in its policies. Unless the rate of growth in flights is
\ncurbed, the UK cannot fulfil its commitments on climate change. If
\ngovernment wants to be confident about achieving its targets, it has to
\nundertake demand management. Relying on technological fixes alone is totally
\nunrealistic.’<\/p>\n

Dr Sally Cairns, one of the report’s authors from the Transport Research
\nLaboratory, said: ‘If the government wants to reduce aviation growth, it has
\nthe power to act now. Raising air passenger duty would help to counter
\nreductions in fares – which are estimated to have been responsible for at
\nleast 40 per cent of recent aviation growth.’<\/p>\n

Co-author, Dr Carey Newson, said: ‘Opinion polls should encourage the
\ngovernment to revisit its aviation policy. A majority now favour airlines
\npaying higher taxes to reflect environmental damage, even if this means
\nhigher airfares.’ <\/p>\n

For more information, please contact the University of Oxford Press Office
\non 01865 280534 or email press.office@admin.ox.ac.uk<\/strong> <\/p>\n

Notes for Editors:<\/strong>
\n(* For a full copy of the report ‘Predict and Decide’, go to
\nwww.eci.ox.ac.uk\/research\/energy\/downloads\/predictanddecide.pdf<\/p>\n