Climate Change News
Below are news items on climate change – many with relevance to aviation
Protesters against the expansion of Bristol Airport still “have eyes on” the airport and its impacts
Protesters against the expansion of Bristol airport made it clear they still "have eyes on" the airport, at a demonstration on 22nd June. Members of Bristol Airport Action Network (BAAN), Extinction Rebellion and the local community joined forces on a roundabout at the airport’s entrance to tell the world they are still watching – despite plans to expand the airport being approved. The network has been campaigning against expansion proposals for over four years, during which time the application was refused planning permission by North Somerset Council before the government stepped in to overturn the decision. A further appeal was rejected by the High Court in January this year, giving the airport the greenlight to expand from 10 to 12m passengers per year. Local people say they are already experiencing problems caused by increased flights, night flights, more traffic on rural roads and traffic congestion. Protesters are concerned about extra carbon emissions and the building of a multi-storey car park on local greenbelt land. Despite their pleas being ignored, protesters want the authorities to know they will continue to hold the airport to account.
Click here to view full story...
Airlines’ unrealistic hope that sustainable fuels will propel them to a guilt-free future
Airlines are desperate to believe, and get everyone else to believe, that flying can be made "low carbon", so everyone can continue to fly, with a clear conscience about their impact on irrevocably altering Earth's climate. But the only real option,(while the sector is trying to grow as much as possible) that might make a significant reduction in aviation carbon emissions, is using other novel fuels. So-called SAF (Sustainable Aviation Fuel). Currently if aviation used every drop of available SAF, it would be about 0.1% of total aviation demand. There are grandiose plans to aviation to use 10%, 20%, 30% or whatever within the next 2 or 3 decades. ie. unrealistic growth. But as Cait Hewitt, of the AEF said: "...there is increasing scepticism about the possibility of scaling up SAFs ... There’s no feedstock – everything is in demand elsewhere. They work really much more like an offset. ...The idea of using waste from processes such as intensive agriculture or animal fats, or plastic manufacture, that are fundamentally unsustainable … I don’t think you can claim that as a sustainable carbon reduction.”
Click here to view full story...
100 climate activists block private jets at biggest business aviation sales event in Europe
In Geneva, 100 climate activists supporting Greenpeace, Stay Grounded, Extinction Rebellion, Scientist Rebellion and other climate movement groups from 17 countries have disrupted Europe’s biggest private jet sales fair, the annual European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE), demanding a ban on private jets. The action follows a series of protests against private jets, including at Amsterdam Schiphol airport and actions as part of the Make Them Pay campaign, in the past months. Activists chained themselves to aircraft gangways and the exhibition entrance in order to keep prospective buyers from entering. The protestors stuck giant tobacco-style health warning labels on the jets marking them as toxic objects and warning that ‘private jets burn our future’, ‘kill our planet’, and ‘fuel inequality’. Sales of private jets are expected to reach their highest ever level this year, and the global fleet of private jets has more than doubled in the last 20 years. Private flights produce about 10 times the CO2 of a commercial flight per passenger kilometre. This sort of CO2 emissions are inequitable, and unjustified environmental damage by the very rich.
Click here to view full story...
EU Parliament votes to clamp down on carbon-neutral claims backed by offsetting
The European Parliament voted late last week to support new rules to improve product durability and combat greenwashing. The proposal for a new directive on empowering consumers for the green transition was voted in plenary by an overwhelming majority of 544 votes in favour, 18 against and 17 abstentions, opening the way for talks with EU member states to finalise the law. Tabled in March last year, the directive aims to help consumers make environmentally friendly choices and encourage companies to offer them more durable products. “This proposal aims to strengthen the fight against greenwashing by banning practices that mislead consumers on the actual sustainability of products,” EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders told MEPs. Lawmakers introduced a ban on environmental claims based on carbon offsetting schemes, such as ‘CO2 neutral’ or ‘carbon neutral’, which are criticised by environmental groups for misleading consumers. Campaigners hailed the Parliament’s move, which was not included in the European Commission’s draft proposal tabled last year.
Click here to view full story...
Government consultation about cutting AIRPORT CO2 emissions, but ignored AIRCRAFT emissions
The Government is currently consulting on proposals to introduce a target for airports to achieve zero emissions without offsetting by 2040. But the target doesn’t include the emissions from flights, despite these being responsible – according to the Government’s own consultants – for 95% of airports’ emissions. The government's target would actually require a massive reduction, or complete cessation, of flights if it included the CO2 emissions from planes too. While it is possible to decarbonise (largely by use of electricity) airport operations on the ground, there are no technologies that can do this, on a large scale, for aircraft. The only plan for flights, other than so-called "sustainable aviation fuels" would be speculative future CO2 removal from the atmosphere. The consultation document says that “The zero-emissions airport target is not intended to hamper economic growth at airports, but to provide a social licence for growth.” ie. making it look as if the aviation industry is working hard to cut its emissions. It would be necessary, for the airport CO2 targets, to include full reporting of the emissions from flights using the airport.
Click here to view full story...
Friends of the Earth threaten legal challenge to Government about inadequate net zero strategy
Ministers may have to rethink their plans for meeting net zero for a second time after green campaigners took the first step towards a legal challenge over inadequate action on climate change. Grant Shapps, the energy secretary, was forced last month to publish a revised version of the government’s net-zero strategy, after the High Court ruled the original was unlawful. The new plan included a mandate to ensure that 28% of car sales were electric by 2025, an extension of grants for heat pumps and a Great British Insulation Scheme. Shapps could now have to revisit the plan again. Friends of the Earth, which brought last year’s court case along with the Good Law Project and ClientEarth, has given him until Friday 28th April to respond to a pre-action letter. It is the first step towards applying for a judicial review. The group’s focus is the lack of detail on the risk of policies failing to deliver the emissions cuts needed for Britain’s legally binding “sixth carbon budget” by 2037. There is no realistic plan to cut the emissions from aviation, other than hopes of so-called "sustainable aviation fuels" (SAF) which is highly unlikely to be available in large amounts.
Click here to view full story...
UK Agency, UK Export Finance, has backed billions’ worth of aviation deals in recent years
UK Export Finance (UKEF), a UK government agency, has financially supported the aviation industry with billions of £s since the Paris climate agreement was adopted, despite it being a high carbon emitter. The effective subsidy for new airports abroad, aircraft and maintenance comes despite the agency believing the oil-dependent sector is unlikely to begin cutting emissions “materially” before the next decade. UKEF offers a range of loans, insurance and guarantees to help British companies secure business abroad. It said in 2021 that it would not support fossil fuel projects, but it continues to support Rolls-Royce, Airbus, Boeing and British Airways (BA). Almost none come with any climate-related conditions attached. The UKEF could play an important role in decarbonising UK exports and working towards "net zero," but its continued support for the expansion of the aviation industry today is instead locking in more carbon emissions for decades to come. UKEF says it is working to decarbonise the sector. Between 2016 and 2023, £18.5bn of UKEF’s nearly £36bn in listed financing went to the aerospace sector. Of this, 46% has gone to civil aviation; £3bn went to BA; Airbus £2bn, Boeing £1.7bn and Rolls-Royce £1.3bn.
Click here to view full story...
Climate change will mean aviation will have to change, even if very reluctantly
Though the Dutch government lost its legal battle recently, trying to limit the number of flights using Schiphol, this was not the triumph the airlines hoped for. Airlines are scared that governments, realising the high CO2 emissions from the sector and no realistic plan to reduce them for several decades, will bring in measures to limit flights or demand for air travel. UN secretary-general António Guterres has said that the latest report by the IPCC showed a “quantum leap” in climate action was now required - and that should include aviation. The Dutch government only lost its case, on a technicality - so it may press on. The aviation sector may try to bring in restrictions itself, in the hope of avoiding more draconian measures being imposed. It is increasingly apparent that the sector’s decarbonisation road maps, largely relying on huge amounts of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), operational efficiencies and technological breakthroughs, will not deliver the "net zero" emissions target by 2050 - especially while the sector tries to grow each year. The chief executive of French airport operator Aéroports de Paris has openly admitted that demand growth has to slow for a time — at least in developed countries
Click here to view full story...
Dutch court in Haarlem blocks flight cutback plan for Schiphol airport
The Dutch government cannot introduce a cap to lower flight numbers at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport later this year, a local court has ruled. This blocks one of the most high-profile attempts yet, anywhere, to reduce the aviation industry’s environmental impact. A Haarlem court ruled that the Dutch government could not cut flight numbers by 8% to 460,000 per year, as it had not gone through the correct procedures when it introduced the rules as temporary measures. The court ruled that “According to European rules, the state can only reduce the number of air transport movements at an airport after going through a careful process.” The airline industry had brought the case against the government, claiming (despite growth plans) that it was working hard to reduce aircraft noise levels and CO2 emissions. KLM, easyJet, Tui and Delta were also involved in bringing the case, which was based on the local impact of flying, including noise and NO2, and could have become a test case. Dutch public policy contrasts with the UK, where the government has said airport capacity growth is consistent with its so called "net zero" 2050 targets.
Click here to view full story...
European airline sector fears competitors from outside the EU that don’t have CO2 reduction goals
European airlines fear losing out to rivals based outside the EU that can ignore the bloc's emissions-reduction rules to become carbon neutral by 2050. The EU's "Fit for 55" package sets out an initial goal of reducing CO2 emissions by 55% in 2030 compared with the 1990 level. This involves EU obligations to scale up the use of sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) to be blended with fossil fuels in all flights departing from European airports. SAFs come from sources such as municipal solid waste, leftovers from the agricultural and forestry industry, used cooking oil, crops and plants, and hydrogen. The makers of the fuels claim they have considerably lower CO2 emissions than conventional kerosene (though about the same when burned in a jet engine). SAF is still in its early stages, with very little produced - and it is much more expensive than kerosene, so flights using it would cost more. If people choose to fly first to Istanbul or Doha or Dubai for the next part of a long flight, it would cost less than flying from a European airport. Airports like Istanbul hope to grow massively in coming years.