Climate Change News
Below are news items on climate change – many with relevance to aviation
By January airlines have to start reporting their CO2 emissions, in preparation for the start of CORSIA
By January, all ICAO Council member states with aircraft operators doing a lot of international flights have to start compiling and transmitting their airlines’ CO2 emissions information. ICAO will gather this, to get ready for the start of its CORSIA "market based measure" plan (Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation). Its aim is to try to have (sic) "carbon neutral growth" from 2020. The pilot phase starts in 2021. From January 2019 all airlines producing annual CO2 emissions above 10,000 tonnes will need to measure their emissions on cross-border flights, so a calculation of a sectoral 2020 emission baseline can be made of the average of 2019 and 2020. There are two bits of jargon for CORSIA; the emissions monitoring plan (EMP) and the CO2 emissions reporting tool (CERT). Airlines will need to submit their EMP to their administering state, the country where their aircraft are registered, by February 28, 2019, or preferably earlier. The CERT needs origin, destination, aircraft type, and number of flights for each airline for the year. There is more jargon - the SARP (standards and recommended practices) and the MRV (monitoring, reporting, and verification) requirements ... We may hear more of these in coming years ...
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Time to focus on the real environmental costs of tourism; not only plastic, but the carbon from air travel
Tourists, going on holidays - including high-CO2 long-haul trips - are being encouraged to cut down on the amount of plastic they use etc. Great to be reducing the number of plastic straws, water bottles and other single-use plastics etc, but this really is barely touching the surface of the environmental problems caused by tourism. In a blog, Chris Haslam, of he Sunday Times, says that while the travel companies like Thomas Cook are "jumping on the sustainability bandwagon" - is this corporate responsibility or virtue-signalling? People can see bits of plastic. They, conveniently, cannot see the CO2 emissions they cause. Travel companies used to try to sell customers carbon offsets for their trips, but no longer seem to. Air travel is a uniquely fast way to cause the emission of a huge proportion of an individual's annual carbon footprint. “No other human activity pushes individual emission levels as fast and as high as air travel,” says Dr Roger Tyers, an environmental sociologist at Southampton University. "... [the aviation industry] tell us that engineers and inventors will come to the rescue, that politicians and passengers need do nothing. ... [but] Climate change will be a real problem unless we do something about our addiction to cheap and plentiful flying.”
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Tests in the US to see if people tolerate booms, from proposed supersonic business jets (for the extra rich)
A long BuzzFeed article looks in detail at the problems of companies trying to bring back supersonic jets, like Concorde, just to cut a few hours off flights for those rich enough to afford them. The interest in developing these planes was galvanised on October 5th, when President Donald Trump signed a FAA bill directing NASA to start consulting with the aviation industry to restart supersonic passenger travel. The problems remain the horrible sonic boom, that is a pressure wave, that hits anyone/anything on the ground, as the plane flies so fast nearby. Earlier studies indicated people really hated it, and it was dangerous. The shock of the bang could cause heart attacks, car accidents, "people to fall off ladders"etc. Research earlier in the USA indicated that people did not become more tolerant of the bang, but less so. Supersonic flights by Concorde were banned over the USA. Now some US companies are looking at supersonic business flights again, but they are hugely wasteful in terms of fuel and high CO2 emissions. The ICCT said the jets would emit 40% more nitrogen oxides and 70% more CO2 than subsonic ones; they burn about 5-7 times as much fuel per passenger (not that Trump would care...)
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CCC launches zero carbon economy advice to government – Call for Evidence (till 7th December)
The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has launched a new Call for Evidence to support is forthcoming advice to the UK Government and the Devolved Administrations on long-term targets for greenhouse gas emissions and the UK’s transition to a net zero-carbon economy. In October the government asked the CCC when the UK should reach net zero emissions of CO2 and/or greenhouse gases as a contribution to global ambition under the Paris Agreement; if that target should be set now; the implications for emissions in 2050; how such reductions can be achieved; and the costs and benefits involved in comparison to existing targets. The government asked for the advice by the end of March 2019. The current target is for cuts of at least 80% on the 1990 level by 2050. This includes international aviation and shipping. So far the 5-yearly carbon budgets are set up to 2032. The CCC advice will be looking at the latest climate science, including the IPCC Report on 1.5°C. Organisations and individuals are invited to send in responses, by 7th December, including thoughts on costs, risks and opportunities from setting a tighter long-term target - and actions needed to achieve the targets. Details of how to respond etc.
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Government, not content with ONE new runway breaching UK carbon targets, is now planning for TWO
The Government will open the door for another new runway by 2050, in addition to the plans for expansion at Heathrow, in a consultation to be launched next month. The DfT's "Aviation Strategy Green Paper" will consult on the decision-making process for delivering a further runway in the UK by 2050, according to Sarah Bishop, DfT's Deputy Head of Aviation Policy. This would be in addition to a 3rd Heathrow runway, and perhaps Gatwick making use of its emergency runway. Ms Bishop says there could be a "need" (sic) for more expansion, to meet air travel demand. Classic outdated "predict & provide" thinking. [The DfT gives the impression it is entirely unaware of of global climate breakdown, or the UK's responsibilities on its carbon emissions]. It remains unclear how even ONE further runway (perhaps Heathrow) could be delivered within the UK's legally binding CO2 emission targets - which require the aviation sector to keep its CO2 emissions to their 2005 level by 2050. The Committee on Climate Change warned as recently as June 2018 that higher levels of aviation emissions in 2050 “must not be planned for” and raised a series of concerns about even ONE new runway (let alone two). The No 3rd Runway Coalition believes the possibility of yet another runway being approved by the DfT would cause concerns for investors in Heathrow.
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By 2050 global aviation emissions could surge by 700% compared to 2005
Someone flying from London to New York and back generates roughly the same level of emissions as the average person in the EU does by heating their home for a whole year, according to the European Commission (EC). The EC states that: “If global aviation was a country, it would rank in the top 10 emitters.” Looking at Ireland, it has agreed, under the EU’s Effort Sharing Decision targets, to deliver a 20% reduction in non-ETS (Emissions Trading System) greenhouse gas emissions, based on 2005 levels, by 2020; these include: agriculture; transport; residential; commercial; waste; and the non-energy intensive industry. Earlier this year, Ireland also committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions level by 30% on 2005 levels by 2030. But according to the EC, by 2020, global international aviation emissions are projected to be around 70% higher than in 2005 and the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) forecasts that by 2050 they could grow by a further 300-700%. Some of the carbon emissions from aviation within Europe (not planes flying to and from Europe, just internally) are covered under the EU's ETS. This is at risk if the global ICAO deal succeeds in forcing the EU to abandon this scheme.
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“What we really need is a change of mentality. Let’s get ready for an era where flying is the new smoking.”
Professor Dorothea Hilhorst has done a blog on how essential it is for everyone, including development practitioners and academics, to cut the amount they fly. She asks whether flying should become the new smoking and how we can address our problematic flying behaviour. This is especially vital after the IPCC report that showed how humanity needs to keep global warming to 1.5C. She says: "...governments should get their acts together and start taxing air travel, while investing in alternatives" ... "organisations and their employees should also take some level of responsibility." ... "What we really need, though, is a change of mentality. Let’s stop kidding ourselves. " There are alternatives. Like other academics she has "found it normal or at best a necessary evil to hop on a plane for every piece of research, conference or seminar." This has to change. There are problems like the department saying: “Sorry, we are short on budget this year, would you mind taking the plane rather than the train?” There is a lot academia (and business etc) could do, such as organising international conferences "every three or four years rather than every year" or more use of Skype for seminars etc, or "investing more in identifying and fostering local experts to avoid international consultancies." Read the full blog.
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Prof Kevin Anderson blog: “Callous or calamitous? … the UK climate minister pulls the rug from under 1.5°C”
The UK government is meant to be signed up to the Paris Agreement on climate change. That aims to keep global warming to below 2 degrees C. It is now understood that we actually need to keep warming to below 1.5 degrees C. The UK is woefully lacking any real progress on this, with its claimed cut in emissions largely due to phasing out coal power stations. Now the "Minister of Energy and Clean Growth", Clare Perry, has said she is writing to the government's advisors on climate change, the CCC, to ask "their advice on the implications for the UK of the IPCC’s recent 1.5°C report." However, as Prof Kevin Anderson explains, the CCC is permitted only to comment on the implications of Paris for post 2032. Ms Perry says: "Carbon budgets already set in legislation (covering 2018-2032) are out of scope of this request.” Nowhere does she acknowledge the IPCC’s recent call for drastic reductions in emissions by 2030 if we are to have any chance of meeting our 1.5°C commitment. There is little point for the CCC only to be able to consider carbon cuts years ahead, when most current Ministers will long have been out of post. The UK's emissions have not, in fact, decreased - but barely altered since 1990, when international aviation and shipping are included, as well as UK imports.
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Heathrow electric plane greenwash – tiny subsidy for one plane …years ahead ….
Heathrow has made its latest greenwashing attempt. This time it is saying it is to let the first electric hybrid plane have a year's free landing slots, when in regular service. This is - quote - "designed to encourage airlines to pursue clean growth and deploy their cleanest, quietest aircraft at Heathrow." This is part of the oxymoron, "clean growth" which business is aiming for. (Clean - totally abused word with aviation sector - is probably meant to mean lower carbon, in this context.) So far there is - wait for it - a plane that can carry 2 passengers .... Heathrow is telling the government etc that it is helping to "drive sustainable change across the industry." The aviation industry hopes there might be electric aircraft carrying passengers by 2030 (so the Heathrow offer is not exactly imminent...) Here is a Heathrow quote, showing just how much carbon greenwash this is: "With global air passengers expected to double by 2035, these changes will play a critical role in driving a sustainable future for the aviation sector and will support goals outlined in Heathrow’s own sustainability strategy – Heathrow 2.0." Aviation Minister, Liz Sugg, said: "Our Aviation Strategy [consultation soon] will also consider further ways to support the development of cleaner, greener technology in the sector.”
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Norway proposes increased tax on long haul flights, (200 crowns from 80 now) and cut on short haul (75 crowns from 80 now) – due to climate change
The Norwegian government proposed on Monday to raise the tax on airline tickets to non-European destinations to 200 Norwegian crowns ($24.13) from 80 crowns currently. On travel in Europe, it proposed a cut to 75 crowns per ticket from 80 crowns. “The passenger fee is given an environmental profile by introducing distance differentiation with higher rate from EEA/Europe,” the government said in its 2019 fiscal budget proposal. Overall, the overall proceeds from airline ticket fees is expected to be neutral, it added. If approved by the parliament the changes will take place from April 1st 2019.