Imperial College report for the CCC says Air Miles schemes, which needless encourage frequent flying, should be banned

Date added: 14 October, 2019

Air miles schemes should be axed as they encourage jet-setters to take extra flights in a bid to maintain “privileged traveller status”, according to a report by Imperial College, London, commissioned by the government’s climate change advisers, the Committee on Climate Change. Encouraging those who already fly a lot, to fly even more, is completely the wrong way to try to cut the carbon emissions from aviation. The report says: “The greatest beneficiaries of aviation’s generous tax treatment in the UK (it is exempt from fuel duty and zero-rated for VAT) are therefore those who pollute most and could most easily afford to pay more. The norm of unlimited flying being acceptable needs to be challenged and, as a very highly-polluting luxury, it is suitable to taxation.” It also recommends: “Introduce regulation to ban frequent flyer reward schemes that stimulate demand”. And: “Raise awareness and encourage more responsible flying by mandating that all marketing of flights show emissions information expressed in terms that are meaningful to consumers.” Also: “Introducing restrictions to ‘all-you-can-fly’ passes and loyalty schemes which offer air miles would remove incentives to excessive or stimulated flying.”
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The Imperial College report is at
https://www.theccc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Behaviour-change-public-engagement-and-Net-Zero-Imperial-College-London.pdf

Air miles should be axed to deter frequent fliers, advises report

UK climate body says policy would target heavy users but not penalise occasional flyers

By Aaron Walawalkar (The Guardian)

Air miles schemes should be axed as they encourage jet-setters to take extra flights in a bid to maintain “privileged traveller status”, according to a report commissioned by the government’s climate change advisers.

An “escalating Air Miles Levy” should also be introduced to rein in the number of trips taken by frequent flyers without penalising those taking an annual holiday, with the income raised to be invested into low-carbon aviation technology.

The recommendations, contained in a report commissioned by the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), are aimed at restricting the 15% of the UK population it said were responsible for taking 70% of flights. By comparison, half the country does not fly at all in a given year.

“The norm of unlimited flying being acceptable needs to be challenged and, as a very highly polluting luxury, it is suitable to taxation,” the report read. It adds that those who pollute most “could easily afford to pay more”.

Another policy suggestion calls on aviation companies to advertise their emissions in an easy-to-understand manner, for example as a proportion of an average annual household’s output, so that customers could make informed decisions.

The report, by Dr Richard Carmichael of Imperial College London, goes beyond aviation policies to consider a range of other lifestyle changes the public must make to tackle the climate crisis.

These include reduce meat and diary consumption, trading cars for bikes, and swapping gas boilers at home for electric alternatives.

Surface transport accounts for the biggest proportion of a household’s carbon footprint at 34%, followed by diet (30%), home heating (21%) and aviation (12%).

Regulations should be introduced to require all schools to offer pupils at least one plant-based meal option and food packaging should display a “traffic light” system indicating its carbon footprint.

Domestic travel recommendations include dropping prices on intercity rail services to reduce demand for cars and planes, and re-opening disused rail lines.

The report also recommends VAT on the installation of insulation and low-carbon heating systems be removed.

The UK is the world’s first major economy to legally commit to becoming carbon-neutral by 2050.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/14/air-miles-should-be-taxed-to-deter-frequent-fliers-advises-report

Climate Activists Want To Ban Frequent Flyer Programs

OCTOBER 13, 2019

BY BEN (LUCKY) – One Mile at a Time

We’re seeing climate change being taken more seriously than ever before, and that’s especially apparent in the airline industry. We have airlines encouraging passengers to take the train rather than fly, airlines carbon offsetting their domestic flights, and more.

While most people agree we should take steps to reduce carbon emissions, there’s huge variance in terms of how extreme people want to be — some people want to play their small part, while others view this as an emergency and want extreme measures to be taken overnight.

Anyway, there’s now an interesting proposal that not only impacts airlines, but more specifically impacts frequent flyer programs.

Should Frequent Flyer Programs Be Banned?

A new Imperial College London report commissioned by the Committee of Climate Change has some comprehensive proposals to prevent further climate change.

Not surprisingly, air travel is a big topic in this, including a proposal for a frequent flyer levy on the 15% of the UK population that takes 70% of flights.

Perhaps the most radical suggestion is eliminating frequent flyer programs. The report argues that frequent flyer programs cause people to take more flights than they need to, including people taking extra flights to “maintain their privileged-traveller status.”

Essentially they are suggesting that frequent flyer programs are rewarding environmentally damaging behavior.

….. and it continues … https://onemileatatime.com/climate-activists-ban-frequent-flyer-programs/

Climate change: Ban on air miles urged to cut frequent flights

Ben Webster, Environment Editor | The Times

October 13 2019,

Air miles schemes must be banned because they encourage excessive flying, according to a report commissioned by the government’s climate change advisers.

All advertisements for flights should include information about their emissions expressed in a simple way to make people think about the impact on the climate of their trips, the report says.

It also recommends an “escalating frequent flyer levy” on distance flown to target the 15 per cent of the population who take 70 per cent of flights.

The report by Imperial College London, commissioned by the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), says that frequent flyer loyalty schemes are particularly damaging because they can result in people taking extra flights simply to “maintain their privileged-traveller status”.

The CCC said the report had “helped inform” its recommendation to government in May that it should adopt a legally binding target of “net zero” emissions by 2050, which means that the UK would become carbon neutral.

Theresa May adopted that target in legislation in June in one of her final acts as prime minister, making the UK the first major economy to bind itself to such an ambitious target.

Imperial College London’s report sets out how that target could be achieved. It says the government must abandon its approach of encouraging households “to make small and easy changes” and instead seek “high-impact shifts in consumer behaviours and choices”.

It says that the government should “introduce a ban on air miles and frequent flyer loyalty schemes that incentivise excessive flying”.

It also recommends making meat more expensive by reducing subsidies for livestock farmers.

It calls for mandatory labels on food showing the product’s impact on the climate. Supermarkets would be required to show shoppers the total carbon impact of their groceries on the receipt and inform them how it compared with a household with a sustainable diet.

All canteens in the public sector should be required to have at least one vegan option “available to everyone every day”.

Switching from cars to trains should be encouraged by cutting the price of long-distance travel, with the report suggesting that a ticket from London to Edinburgh should cost £25. It calls for disused rail lines to be reopened.

Electricity should be made cheaper by shifting more of the taxes on household energy to gas.

Much of the report focuses on the need to limit flights, for which it says there is no low-carbon alternative.

It says: “Flying is a uniquely high-impact activity and is the quickest and cheapest way for a consumer to increase their carbon footprint. The emissions from one return ticket from London to New York are roughly equivalent to that of heating a typical home for a whole year.

“Low-carbon aviation technology is expected to remain technically unfeasible and so it is vital to restrain rising demand, despite this having been considered politically difficult to address hitherto. Aviation has so far enjoyed generous tax treatment despite a large proportion of flights being taken by a small, wealthy segment of the population.”

The report adds that if the government fails to adopt tough measures targeting frequent flyers its climate policy is “likely to be increasingly seen as inconsistent and unjust and risks damaging public engagement with climate action”.

Airlines UK, a trade body, criticised the report, saying that if the UK adopted unilateral measures targeting aviation, such as banning air miles, it would damage the country’s reputation and could result in people taking more flights from other countries.

Key recommendations in the Imperial College London report commissioned by the Committee on Climate Change:

– Mandatory labels on food should show climate impact
– Total carbon impact of your weekly shop should be shown on till receipts
– The price of meat and dairy should be raised by reducing subsidies for livestock farmers
– Public-sector canteens should offer vegan option at all times
– Air miles and frequent flyer reward schemes should be banned
– An escalating levy on flights based on total distance flown should be introduced
– The price of intercity rail travel should be cut
– Disused rail lines should be reopened
– Tax should be reduced on electricity

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/climate-change-ban-on-air-miles-urged-to-cut-frequent-flights-3cc6k5qgx

Imperial College report for the CCC says Air Miles schemes, which needless encourage frequent flying, should be banned

Should Frequent Flyer Programs Be Banned?

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