Campaigners warn of global refugees created by Scottish airport expansion
to new data released today which indicates that airport expansion in Scotland
could create 20,000 climate refugees world-wide by 2050. The protestors, symbolising
the 36 Scottish civil servants who fly within the UK every day, handed giant paper
aeroplanes to MSPs, including Patrick Harvie and Cathy Peattie, convener and co-convener
of the Climate Change Committee, urging them to lead the UK by example before
it is too late.
climate refugees, said: “MSPs cannot put their heads in the sand. If we don’t
cap flying in Scotland, we risk being responsible for permanently destroying the
dry season water supply of 100,000 people around the world. The Heathrow decision
shows that Westminster is out of touch, but MSPs can still use their reason and
take a stand against expansion at Edinburgh, Prestwick and other Scottish airports.
Aviation must also be counted in the Scottish climate change bill from the outset,
but at the moment it is not.”
reported that the government’s National Planning Framework leaves the door wide
open on airport expansion.
airport expansion in the Government’s National Planning Framework are devious
and damaging, and we urge MSPs to resist what is ultimately harmful for the Scottish
economy as well as the environment.”
life. The majority of UK businesses are already saying they want to fly less in
the next ten years, and solutions exist. If high-speed rail shared the £10 billion
annual subsidy that the UK aviation industry currently enjoys, passengers could
be travelling to London by train in 3 hours without ruining the lives of millions
of people.”
MSPs that met with campaigners were: Cathy Peattie, Shirley-Anne Somerville,
Robin Harper, Patrick Harvie, Mike Pringle and Robert Brown. Patrick Harvie today
issued a motion to Parliament stating: “That the Parliament acknowledges the recent
report from the World Development Movement, which found that airport expansion
in Scotland could create 20,000 climate refugees worldwide by 2050 due to the
damage caused by those increased climate change emissions; welcomes the plea from
some 21,000 people that Scotland’s share of international aviation emissions should
be counted in a Climate Change (Scotland) Bill from the start; notes that campaigners
will bring this message to the Scottish Parliament on Thursday 5th February, in
order to highlight the case for the Climate Change (Scotland) Bill to explicitly
commit to action on international aviation emissions from the outset; further
notes the views of those campaigners that MSPs must not allow the second National
Planning Framework to support aviation expansion without full and proper public
and environmental scrutiny and believes aviation expansion remains economically
unjustified, especially given that the majority of businesses in the UK plan to
reduce their flying in the next 10 years.”Campaigners were echoing the 21,000 responses to the 2008 Scottish Climate Change
Bill consultation which called for Scotland’s share of international aviation
to be included in an 80% emissions reduction target by 2050. The Government’s
draft bill, now before Parliament, states that a commitment on aviation will not
be considered at this stage.Recently revised Department for Transport figures, which reflect the UK government’s
2003 white paper The Future of Air Transport, reveal that CO2 equivalent emissions
from Scottish airports could rise from 5.1 million tonnes to 8.4 million tonnes
by 2050. The data also indicates that we could see air passenger numbers in Scotland
rise from 25 million today to 125 million by 2050.The Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change Committee reported this week
that:
be facilitated through a mix of access enhancements and surface measures such
as new taxiways and hangar facilities. In the last decade growth in air travel
has driven annual increases in emissions from the sector in Scotland of 7% a year
since 1990, and almost 9% a year in the last decade… However, the climate implications
of growth are a simple factor of the number of flights and the efficiency of the
aircraft. The design and location of new public transport links, hangars, terminal
buildings and so forth will have negligible impact on climate implications. Estimates
suggest aircraft efficiency could improve by 1-2% per year71. So simply to hold
emissions stable, flight numbers must not grow more than this. To contribute to
the target reductions in emissions it is necessary for flight numbers to fall.
Using the NPF to designate measures to increase air travel as a national need
therefore sends the wrong message when urgent action on climate change is needed.”
the balance of trade, as expenditure by Scots travelling abroad significantly
outweighs expenditure in Scotland by visitors.”
Scientists estimate that a 3-4 degree centigrade global temperature rise could
create 200 million refugees worldwide. The World Development Movement has calculated
that the share of this attributed to Scottish airport expansion means that:
Scottish airports could be responsible for creating around 20,000 climate refugees
between 2005 and 2050.
Scottish airports could be responsible for causing 30,000 more people around
the world to suffer from extreme hunger.Scottish airports could be responsible for taking away the dry season water supply
of 100,000 peopleSee the original UK report “Carbon Evictions” at http://www.wdm.org.uk/resources/reports/climate/index.htm
campaigns against the root causes of poverty in the developing world. Website