Climate Change News
Below are news items on climate change – many with relevance to aviation
Gatwick expansion DCO inquiry begins – and will last for 6 months
The inquiry, by the Planning Inspectorate, into the DCO concerning Gatwick Airport's plan to use its emergency runway for routine flights started with an open session, and many people - both in favour of the plan, and against, allowed a brief time to speak. All those in favour were businesses, or business groups - or people in some way linked to the airport, and hoping its expansion would be good for their business in the short to medium term, and perhaps provide more good jobs. Those against were local councils and local residents who - with passion - put forward the range of negative impacts that the expansion would bring. Those would include the climate impacts of thousands more tonnes of CO2 per year; surface transport impacts; air pollution; noise pollution, especially at night; and social impacts of the pressure on local infrastructure, from many more workers at the airport, and many more air passengers. The inquiry is being held in Crawley, and is due to last six months. The submissions gave the impression that the businesses only looked at possible economic benefits, giving no consideration to local residents, or the environment - in the short or long term.
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Andrew Boswell’s legal case, needing the emissions from future use of infrastructure, could be vital
Environmental campaigner and retired scientist, Andrew Boswell, is challenging the granting of development consent for 3 major road building schemes near Norwich. The latest challenge in the ongoing case was heard in the Court of Appeal on 16th January. The case is about the need for new infrastructure schemes, such as roads or airports, to have the increased carbon emissions from their operation taken into account, not merely the carbon from their construction - which is the current legal position. Andrew Boswell claims former transport secretaries Grant Shapps and Anne-Marie Trevelyan’s allowing the schemes was unlawful as the DfT and National Highways failed to properly consider their cumulative emissions impact. His first challenge to the granting of DCOs was heard in the High Court last May, then subsequently dismissed by Justice Thornton in July 2023. He was later granted permission by the Court of Appeal on 18 October, with the Judge noting that Boswell’s case “has a real prospect of success” and acknowledging that “assessment of combined carbon emissions has potentially wide implications”. A date for the outcome of the Appeal Court hearing has not yet been determined.
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Schiphol Airport’s new report demands a reduction of aviation demand, to cut CO2 emissions
On 24th Schiphol airport published new research, showing the need for a strong reduction of air traffic demand in order to halt climate heating. The airport proposes the ‘Polluter pays’ principle, with measures such as a worldwide kerosene tax and a tax for business class and private flights. Schiphol’s research showed that at least a 30% CO2 reduction (when compared to 2019) is needed for Schiphol and European aviation to be on track in 2030. That’s more than the current Dutch goal of a 9% reduction. The research was commissioned by Schiphol to investigate what is needed in order to bring its CO2 emissions in line with the Paris Agreement, and it explains why “technological breakthroughs will come too late” and so-called “Sustainable Aviation Fuel” production has limits. It concludes that: “Demand management measures are necessary to align the aviation sector with the goals of the Paris Agreement.” One of the measures proposed is to convert the Dutch air passenger tax to a distance-based tax, and it should include long haul flights - which make up about 80% of emissions. Several other measures include expanding the European ETS to long haul flights.
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Greta Thunberg joins protest against expansion of Farnborough airport, that is only for private jets
The climate activist Greta Thunberg marched alongside local residents and XR activists to protest against Farnborough airport’s expansion plans. The airport, that only has private jets, submitted a planning application to Rushmoor borough council in September 2023 to increase the number of flights from 50,000 to 70,000 a year. The plan is also to increase weekend and bank holiday flights going from 8,900 to 18,000 per year, and for flights to be allowed an hour earlier and later at weekends, so changing from from 8am to 8pm currently, to 7am to 9pm. They also want to increase the weight of jets, so even bigger and heavier private jets can operate without restriction. Private jets produce far, far more CO2 emissions per passenger kilometer even than business/first class in commercial planes. They are used not only by politicians and top business people, for work purposes, but increasingly just for holidays and leisure. The large protest at the airport called for a total ban on private jets. Greta Thunberg attended, and said: “The fact that using private jets is both legally and socially allowed today in an escalating climate emergency is completely detached from reality.”
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Need for the very rich to publicise how they plan to decarbonise their lifestyles
Private jets are used, more than one might imagine, by the rich, famous and people high up in politics and business. The emissions generated are huge, and are widely seen as an incongruous anomaly, in a world where most people have woken up to the perils of increasing carbon emissions for life in coming decades and centuries. Those who support the use of private jets may claim it is not a real issue, and what has to change is better technology and different political frameworks. But there is a real problem in that many in our societies are influenced, in how they live their own lives, by how they see the rich and famous behaving. The "jet set" lifestyle is sold to people as something positive, to aspire to. Academic researcher, Steve Westlake, writes that leaders who maintain high-carbon lifestyles undermine trust and reduce everyone’s willingness to change their own behaviour - and this slows down the fight against climate change. Positive examples of low-carbon behaviour, especially by high-profile people, can have the effect of encouraging low-carbon behaviour in many people. The users of private jets etc could start to publicise measures they are taking to de-carbonise their own lifestyles.
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NGOs write to aviation Minister, asking that public money is NOT used for SAF research and development
Ten environmental organisations, that are concerned about the environmental impact of aviation, have sent a public letter to the Transport Minister, Mark Harper, asking that development of allegedly "sustainable" aviation fuels should NOT be given public funding. The organisations say it would be grossly unfair for taxpayer money to be given to this, bearing in mind that a majority of people in the UK either do not fly in any one year, or take just one return flight. The majority of flights are taken by a minority, more affluent than average. The letter says that “Industry-funded” should mean that the costs of any revenue support mechanism should be paid for solely by the aviation sector. Also that taxes such as Air Passenger Duty should not be earmarked for SAF research, but go towards public funding. They say that at no point should there be any potential for Treasury money to be used to cover any scheme costs; the scheme should be administered by a body that is not the Treasury, similar to how the Low Carbon Contracts Company operates regarding renewable energy generation.
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Much of the allegedly “used” cooking oil being imported for SAF likely to be fraudulent
Analysis - by T&E - of latest biofuels data shows worrying rise in dubious "used cooking oil" imports as airlines increasingly try to promote biofuels as low carbon flying. The new report shows Europe currently imports 80% of the used cooking oil that it uses as fuel for cars, trucks and planes. About 60% of these imports come from China. With the global airline industry pushing for used cooking oil as a key ingredient in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), T&E has called for greater transparency to avoid used cooking oil (UCO) becoming a backdoor for palm oil. Europe does not produce anything like as much UCO as it wants to use. The push to import oils, with much of the allegedly "used" oil being dodgy, is set to grow as airlines push for more UCO as a key ingredient in SAF. European governments say it’s almost impossible to stop virgin oils like palm being labelled as "waste". There are also palm oil derivatives such as Palm Oil Mill Effluents (POME) and Palm Fatty Acid Distillate (PFAD). These are not waste, but by-products of the palm oil refining process, linked to significant environmental damage and ILUC.
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Luton expansion opposed by Hertfordshire County Council – NO conditions could make it acceptable
Hertfordshire County councillors say they are "vehemently opposed" to plans to increase passenger numbers at Luton Airport – and that NO conditions could make it acceptable. Luton Rising – the owners of the airport – have applied to increase the annual number of air passengers from 19m to 32m a year. The application is currently being examined by the Planning Inspectorate, PINS, as a ‘National Significant Infrastructure Project’. At a council meeting on 12th December, a motion backed by all political parties, pointed to the impact the expansion would have on traffic, on the environment and on noise. It called on PINS to recommend that the application is refused. Due to negative transport, environment and noise impacts, the expansion should be opposed, and was "difficult, if not impossible" to see any planning conditions that would make it ‘acceptable’. One councillor said: “We are in the middle of a climate emergency ... we have got to invest in transport that does not destroy the planet. Aircraft are one of the worst polluting forms of transport there are and we must seek to reduce it and not increase it.”
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St Albans MP, Daisy Cooper: Luton Airport expansion inquiry should be paused
Luton airport has applied to increase its capacity from 18 million to 32 million passengers per year. This expansion would bring both a big increase in flights and road traffic congestion. Local MP, Daisy Cooper, is strongly opposed to it. She says people living underneath the flight paths in St Albans and neighbouring areas already experience a negative impact on their health and wellbeing from noise, which would only get worse. The airport has repeatedly breached their legal noise and passenger limits since 2019 with impunity and the promised introduction of newer, quieter aircraft has been broken with no discernible improvements. She says claims about economic impact and job creation are also pretty spurious. Luton airport has not delivered the jobs it promised years ago. Luton's expansion would make it much harder for the UK to meet climate targets. The 2019 Advice from the government’s own Climate Change Committee is crystal clear: to meet the legally binding 2050 “net zero target” there should be no net expansion of capacity. The UK needs a proper policy on airport capacity, future flight numbers and future aviation carbon emissions. Until then, airport expansion plans should be halted.
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Spain may try to introduce a ban on short haul flights
The Spanish coalition government wants to ban short-haul flights when there is an alternative by train that takes less than 2.5 hours. The proposal comes from Spain's ruling Socialist Party (PSOE) and the far-left Sumar party, who reached an agreement to form a new progressive coalition government last month. The coalition between PSOE and Sumar is not enough to build a majority, therefore support is still needed from smaller regional parties, including Catalan independentists. The measure is intended to curb emissions from quick domestic flights and encourage more sustainable travel, as part of Spain’s 2050 climate action plan. It could affect flights from cities like Alicante, Barcelona, Seville and Valencia to Madrid. However, flights using the capital city to connect to international routes would not be included in the ban. France has introduced a similar measure but environmentalists have questioned how effective it is at reducing flying. There would be some problems with the train route on some of the journeys, involving changing trains. However, the majority of the carbon emissions from flying are from long haul flights, and these are not affected by the plan.