Climate campaigners call for halt to regional UK airports expansion, to avoid aviation CO2 growth
The Aviation Environment Federation says the UK government must intervene to stop the planned expansion of a number of small airports around the country if it is to meet legally binding environmental targets and avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis. Seven regional airports have devised plans to expand their operations, despite fierce opposition from climate scientists and local people, who argue the proposals are incompatible with UK efforts to address the climate and ecological crisis. The decision on whether to allow a new terminal at Leeds Bradford has been delayed. The AEF says the government must go further and intervene to halt the other schemes which, taken together, would release huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The expansions are against the recommendations fo the government’s climate advisors, the Committee on Climate Change, who say there should be no net airport expansion. ie. if one expands, another has to contract (there are no volunteers). The time is well overdue for government take a proper strategic overview of the climate impact of airport expansion proposals rather than leave it up to individual local authorities. There needs to be proper policy for aviation carbon, which is sadly lacking.
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Click here for a full list of the airports with live planning applications that would have significant CO2 impact if approved.
Climate campaigners call for halt to regional UK airports expansion
Ministers must consider cumulative impact of proposals ‘likely to compromise’ emissions targets
By Matthew Taylor (The Guardian)
Thu 8 Apr 2021
The government must intervene to stop the planned expansion of a number of small airports around the country if it is to meet legally binding environmental targets and avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis, campaigners have said.
Seven regional hubs have devised plans to expand their operations despite fierce opposition from climate scientists and locals who argue the proposals are incompatible with efforts to address the ecological crisis.
This week, the expansion of Leeds Bradford airport was put on hold after the government paused plans to build a new terminal building on the green belt. Ministers are still deciding whether to “call in” the decision – a process that would allow the national and international climate ramifications of granting permission for the airport to be considered by ministers.
Now campaigners say the government must go further and intervene to halt the other schemes which, taken together, would release huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
Tim Johnson from the Aviation Environment Federation, said the UK’s airport expansion plans would contravene the most recent recommendations from the Climate Change Committee, the government’s climate advisers.
He said the government must take a strategic overview of the climate impact of the proposals rather than leave it up to individual local authorities. “If you look at the cumulative impact of all these regional airports it is very likely to compromise the government’s ability to reach net zero.”
Johnson said decisions on expansion plans at four airports – Leeds Bradford, Bristol, Stansted and Manston – would be “piling up” on ministers’ desks in the coming months and that other proposals at Southampton, Luton and Gatwick could well end up being decided by the national government.
“The government needs to take control of the situation, look at the cumulative impacts of all these airports and the compatibility of that with our net zero commitments.”
Robert Jenrick, the communities secretary, issued a direction to Leeds city council this week preventing councillors from granting planning permission without special authorisation. This gives him more time to decide whether to “call in” in the planning application.
Jenrick recently used the same powers to intervene in plans to build a new coalmine in Cumbria amid international condemnation of the proposals and there is growing scrutiny of other high carbon projects in the UK prior to a key global climate summit being held in Glasgow in November.A spokesperson for the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “Planning decisions should be made at a local level wherever possible. The power to call-in is used very selectively and when requests to call in an application are made ministers will consider the case individually, in line with our published policy.”
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The Government must set the Sixth Carbon Budget by the end of June 2021
Following this advice, the Government must set the Sixth Carbon Budget in law by the end of June 2021. This must be followed, as soon as is practicable, by a set of policies and proposals to meet the budget. We recommend that both these steps are taken without delay, in the first half of 2021.
This requires international aviation and shipping to be included in the carbon budget. That means aviation carbon is properly included in UK totals, and so cannot be allowed to expand more than very slightly.
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On the news that the government had postponed a decision on Leeds Bradford Airport,
GOVERNMENT PUTS LEEDS BRADFORD EXPANSION DECISION ON HOLD: AEF REACTION
7th April, 2021
In response to the announcement that the Government has put Leeds Bradford Airport’s expansion plans on hold,AEF Deputy Director Cait Hewitt said:
This is the latest airport expansion proposal to run into difficulty over its likely impacts on climate change. While we welcome the fact that the Government has put the brakes on the Leeds Bradford proposal while it considers the application for a call-in, the underlying problem is that the Government has no plan in place for bringing aviation into line with the UK’s net zero emissions commitment.
So far, the Government has tried to duck responsibility for assessing the CO2 impacts of all but the largest airport growth applications, leaving it to local authorities to have to weigh up the likely environmental impacts of a proposal. But there’s no mechanism for ensuring that the cumulative impact of schemes such as airport expansion or new roads doesn’t bust our carbon targets.
We’ve estimated that if all the expansions currently hoped for by UK airports were to proceed they could result in an extra 9MtCO2 per annum by 2050, on top of what the Government has already forecast.
Aviation currently has no clear path to decarbonisation. We won’t be able to achieve net zero if we keep expanding our airports.
Click here for a full list of the airports with live planning applications that would have significant CO2 impact if approved.
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