Boris Johnson unveils plan to increase number of flights, despite global climate emergency: ‘A total disregard for the planet’

As part of the Queen’s Speech on 20th December, there is to be an “Air Traffic Management and Unmanned Aircraft Bill”. This will have the effect of squeezing more flights into same airspace and grow the airline sector.   The details in the Speech documents say the aim of the Bill  is to: “Maintain the UK’s position as a world-leader in aviation, ensuring that regulations keep pace with new technology to support sustainable growth in a sector which directly provides over 230,000 jobs and contributes at least £22 billion to the UK economy every year.”  Its alleged benefits would be:  “Making journeys quicker, quieter and cleaner through the modernisation of our airspace”. [Note greenwashing language].  The Bill will give government powers to “direct an airport or other relevant body to prepare and submit a proposal to the Civil Aviation Authority to modernise their airspace…” And “Modernising the licensing framework for air traffic control”. The government says the aim is to remove obstacles to growth in the number of flights airspace can accommodate. The CAA last year published an Airspace Modernisation Strategy, setting out general principles and methods.
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Boris Johnson unveils plan to increase number of flights, despite global climate emergency: ‘A total disregard for the planet’

New aviation bill promises to squeeze more flights into same airspace and growth for sector

By Jon Stone @joncstone  (Independent)
20.12.2019

New government plans to ramp up the number of flights will make it “all but impossible” for the UK to cut its carbon emissions to the required levels, environmentalists have warned.

Downing Street was accused of “a total disregard for the planet” after it unveiled a new air traffic management bill on Thursday to lift practical limits on the number of planes British airspace can accommodate.

The bill was included in Thursday’s Queen’s Speech and forms part of the government’s legislative programme for the coming years – despite pledges in the Tory manifesto to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Around 15% of the UK’s climate impact come from aviation and environmentalists say that even more flights would be incompatible with the UK’s contribution to stopping global disaster.

But the Government says the aviation sector also contributes £22 billion to the UK economy each year and provides over 200,000 jobs, and says its new laws will grow the aviation sector.

Ministers say growth will be “sustainable” and that supposedly outdated practices “limit the number of flights the airspace can safely accommodate”.

But campaigners have said the approach will accelerate “climate breakdown” and says that claims aviation be expanded without increased emissions are not realistic.

“At a time when the government should be focussing on drastically cutting the country’s carbon emissions, this illustrates the absurdity of the government’s ability to meet its own net zero carbon emission targets, which at 2050 is already too weak. The government has shown a total disregard for the planet,” said Alannah Travers, an Extinction Rebellion spokesperson.

Ms Travers added that the government’s separate environment bill “barely touches the surface of the action we require our government to take if it is to tackle the climate and ecological crisis”.

Jenny Bates, campaigner at Friends of the Earth said: “Aviation is a highly polluting sector, responsible for huge amounts of climate wrecking emissions,”

“You can’t have so-called sustainable growth in a sector like this and stop the climate crisis. And while some may believe developing technologies like electric planes will deliver a green travel future these are nowhere near being a reality.

“The real solution, as part of the fight against climate breakdown, is far fewer planes in our skies. Instead, the opposite is being encouraged with airport expansion projects, including the planned third runway at Heathrow.

“These damaging schemes would make emissions ever higher, making it all but impossible for the UK to meet its targets for cutting emissions.”

Molly Scott Cato, a Green Party MEP, told The Independent: “As the fastest growing source of carbon emissions, the aviation sector must be restricted not expanded.

“This reckless policy of encouraging airport expansion confirms our worst suspicions that the Conservative government is prepared to sacrifice our climate on the altar of profit.”

The Air Traffic Management and Unmanned Aircraft Bill, to give it its full name, will also reform the rules for unmanned aircraft and give police more powers to tackle unlawful use of drones.

But the most controversial provisions objected to by environmentalists are a plan to “modernise” Britain’s airspace to remove barriers that “limit the number of flights the airspace can safely accommodate”.

The Government says the primary purpose of the Bill is to “maintain the UK’s position as a world-leader in aviation, ensuring that regulations keep pace with new technology to support sustainable growth in a sector which directly provides 230,000 jobs and contributes at least £22 billion to the UK economy every year”.

The year 2019 saw the development of the flygskam or ‘flight-shame’ movement that discourages people from flying to try and reduce their environmental impact.

But in the UK the winning Conservative party’s manifesto appeared to give the green light to Heathrow expansion, describing it as a “private sector project” and saying parliament had in principle backed it. The manifesto policy came despite Boris Johnson’s longstanding opposition to expanding the airport.

The Conservatives pledged to take the UK to net zero carbon emissions by 2050, while the losing Labour manifesto pledged to make progress towards the aim by 2030 with a “green new deal”.

But scientists have most recently warned that net zero must be reached worldwide well before 2040 to avert serious climate change.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-climate-change-flights-carbon-emissions-net-zero-queens-speech-a9253516.html#r3z-addoor

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The Queen’s Speech full text:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/853886/Queen_s_Speech_December_2019_-_background_briefing_notes.pdf

 

This is the part about aviation: 

Air Traffic Management and Unmanned Aircraft Bill

The purpose of the Bill is to:

● Maintain the UK’s position as a world-leader in aviation, ensuring that regulations keep pace with new technology to support sustainable growth in a sector which directly provides over 230,000 jobs and contributes at least £22 billion to the UK economy every year.

● Ensure that the police are able to tackle effectively the unlawful use of unmanned aircraft, including drones and model aircraft.

The main benefits of the Bill would be:

● Making journeys quicker, quieter and cleaner through the modernisation of our airspace.

● Improving public safety through greater police enforcement powers, deterring the unlawful use of unmanned aircraft and ensuring that offenders are quickly dealt with in the appropriate manner.

The main elements of the Bill are:

● New government powers to direct an airport or other relevant body to prepare and submit a proposal to the Civil Aviation Authority to modernise their airspace, enabling more efficient, quieter and greener flights.

● Modernising the licensing framework for air traffic control.

● New police powers to tackle the unlawful use of unmanned aircraft. These include the ability to require a person to land an unmanned aircraft and enhanced stop and search powers where particular unmanned aircraft related offences have taken place.

Territorial extent and application

● The Bill’s provisions would extend and apply to the whole of the UK. Civil aviation and airspace are reserved matters.

Key facts

● Many of the UK’s air routes and air traffic management practices were designed when commercial flight first became widespread in the 1950s, and for lower- 96 powered, less efficient aircraft with far poorer safety, surveillance and control systems than now.

● These 1950s flightpaths often constrain aircraft climb performance (by, for instance, requiring them to climb in stages rather than fly straight up) meaning that more time is taken to reach their optimum cruising altitude, more fuel is burned, more emissions and noise are created. Other practices include stacking, where aircraft circle in an airborne ‘queue’ to enter busy airports such as Heathrow. Such practices limit the number of flights the airspace can safely accommodate.

● The Department for Transport’s Strategic Case for Airspace Modernisation, published in February 2017, set out that if nothing is done there could be a delay of 30 minutes for 1 in 3 flights by 2030, which would be 72 times higher than in 2015. This would cost the UK around £250 million per year. Modernisation can also deliver major noise and carbon reduction benefits.

● The Civil Aviation Authority last year published an Airspace Modernisation Strategy, setting out general principles and methods. The next step is individual airports drawing up their own airspace modernisation plans.

● The Bill will give the Secretary of State, or Civil Aviation Authority, a power to direct those involved in airspace change, for example airport operators, to progress an airspace change proposal, failing which they could be fined.

● It will also hand the police powers to tackle the unlawful use of unmanned aircraft, including requiring a person to land an unmanned craft, and new stop and search powers.

 

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