Climate Change News
Below are news items on climate change – many with relevance to aviation
Row over whether foreign airlines and ETS rumbles on and ICAO is incapable of producing an effective carbon scheme
This month the US joined forces with over 12 other countries, including China, India, Russia and Japan, to take the fight against the ETS to the ICAO, the UN agency that sets airline standards. Brussels is standing firm. Jeff Gazzard argues that as ICAO is run exclusively for the aviation industry, it is institutionally incapable of imposing any global system of taxes or charges to reduce aviation's CO2 emissions. Everyone knows ICAO cannot, and will not, do it.
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How do the charges work out, comparing a return flight for 2 people to Rome, with driving there?
Tweet With the debate on reducing Air Passenger Duty, and increasing petrol prices, how to the costs work out, comparing driving and flying? How much tax is paid, how much duty, how much VAT? The distance from London to Rome is about 890 miles. So driving would be a bit further, as the roads do […]
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World headed for irreversible climate change in five years, IEA warns
The IEA, and others, warn if the world is to stay below 2C of warming (likely to be the limit of safety) CO2 must be held to no more than 450 ppm (now around 390 ppm). But the world is already producing huge amounts of CO2 making this target difficult. All new high-carbon infrastructure built in future (power generation, energy-guzzling factories, inefficient buildings) would add more carbon, making the target unachievable. And that includes airports expanding.
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Australia Senate backs carbon tax – airlines can opt in to emissions-trading
The country's mining firms, airlines, steel makers and energy firms are among those expected to be hardest hit by the new tax. The Clean Energy Act includes an amendment allowing airlines and other large fuel users to opt in to a carbon-emissions trading program, and airlines argued that being part of the scheme would allow them to manage their fuel liability and carbon-cost liability for their fuel more efficiently. Airlines prefer this to a higher fuel tax.
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ACI Backs IATA In Fight Against EU Emissions Trading
ICAO endorsed a paper by 26 states asking the EU to exclude non-EU states from the ETS. The Airports Council International says the issues of aircraft emissions should be addressed globally by ICAO and is “very concerned over the trade conflict” developing over the EU’s plan to charge all airlines flying into and out of European airports. IATA called for ICAO to develop a global ETS and appreciates the ACI support. The EU shows no signs of backing down.
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Durban climate summit set for rows on flying, cash and history
The summit opens at the end of November. EU plans on aviation, "climate aid" and the West's past CO2 output are set to be divisive. India has tabled a paper arguing that the EU's plan to include international flights in its ETS violates the UN climate convention and sets causes a new intractable conflict within the already strife-ridden climate negotiations. Some developing countries say Western nations have a duty to absorb CO2 over the coming decades.
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Shipping emissions ‘should be included in UK carbon targets’
The Committee on Climate Change warn that CO2 emissions from shipping should not be left to rise unchecked, and should be counted in UK's carbon targets. Otherwise they will imperil efforts to control global warming if left to rise unchecked. Shipping & aviation were purposely omitted from the UN negotiations because of alleged difficulty of apportioning them. If these sectors don't cut, all other sectors of the UK economy have to make steeper cuts.
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Greenhouse gases rose by record amount (6%) in 2010 – worse than the worst case scenario
The global output of CO2 has jumped by a record amount, according to the US department of energy, a sign of how feeble the world's efforts are at slowing man-made global warming. The 2010 figures mean levels of greenhouse gases are higher than the worst case scenario outlined by climate experts 4 years ago. The world pumped about 564 m more tons of carbon into the air in 2010 than it did in 2009, an increase of 6%. China, the US & India emitted the most.
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Airlines ready for next battle against EU carbon law
26 nations are expected to lodge a formal protest on 2nd Nov at the ICAO meeting, against the EU ETS, adding to transatlantic tension on the issue. From 1st Jan all flights entering the EU will have to buy carbon permits. Last week the US lower house passed a bill making it illegal for airlines to comply with the ETS. EU lawyers say any decision by ICAO would not be legally binding. Connie Hedegaard said the legislation was designed to address "the vertiginous growth in carbon emissions from aviation".
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Global warming ‘confirmed’ by independent Berkeley Earth Project study
A new analysis by a US scientific group, the Berkeley Earth Project part funded by climate sceptics, has concluded the earth really is warming, and it is not bad data giving wrong figures. They found the same land warming trend seen by groups such as the UK Met Office and Nasa. "Climategate" in 2009 involved claims global warming had been exaggerated. This study was done to overcome fears climate researchers had not been entirely open with their temperature data.