Climate Change News
Below are news items on climate change – many with relevance to aviation
Tom Burke article exposes the fallacy of hoping carbon pricing will lower CO2 emissions
The aviation industry is reluctantly realising it needs to cut its carbon emissions, and work is under way, through ICAO, on a "market based measure" by which the industry could pay for carbon emissions. This, like the EU ETS, would be by being able to buy carbon permits from other sectors which had managed to make actual carbon cuts. A hard-hitting article from Tom Burke casts serious doubt on whether this sort of carbon pricing and trading could ever work effectively. He fears many high carbon industries pay lip-service to the concept, in the full knowledge that it will never work sufficiently well to curtail their activities, and it delays the need for any real action. He says: "The intent is to create the impression of an industry in favour of urgent action whilst actually slowing that action down".... [with the carbon price remaining too low] ... "If only governments were brave enough to put the carbon price up higher and faster, they will lament, we would get there sooner. This is hocus-pocus. They know full well governments will be deeply reluctant to put up consumers' bills." ... "There is no chance that the world will agree on a global price for carbon in the forty years we have to keep the climate safe.... Their purpose is clear, to set a trap for unwary policy makers and environmentalists. Shame on those who fall into it."
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Many thousands of determined opponents of new Nantes airport gather before final court decision
Over the weekend of 11th and 12th July there was a massive gathering at Notre Dame des Landes, in western France, to show the strong opposition to the building of a new runway there, to replace the current Nantes airport. This "mobilisation" is the 15th that the organisers, ACIPA, have put on over the years. It was estimated that perhaps 15,000 people attended over the two days. People at Nantes are very aware of the carbon and climate implications of a new airport, as well as serious local environmental destruction. They also link the Nantes campaign with other huge infrastructure projects across Europe, that would be damaging in terms of carbon emissions - such as a new runway in the UK. There is a desire to link up campaigns against such developments. The gathering combined a lot of workshops and education sessions with fun, with music, dancing and food -but with a very serious message. On Friday 17th July the Nantes Administrative Court will rule on the last 17 appeals by opponents of the airport project, on several environmental issues in contention with EU law, such as on water law and destruction of protected species. It is thought the court will rule against the opponents,but they will appeal. These legal issues are all that is holding up building of the airport.
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The Guardian view on expanding Heathrow: just say no. Guardian Editorial
The Guardian writes that the Airports Commission and most of the reporting of the Heathrow runway recommendation looked only at issues like economic growth, the alleged urgency of more links to emerging markets, and the UK keeping its place as top dog on aviation in Europe. A few voices were raised about the local “environmental” effect, noise, air pollution etc. But these "pale besides aviation’s contribution to the planet’s slow cooking. If there is a difficult question that has been ducked for too long, then that is the one about decarbonising the economy." Though the Commission looked at carbon, their "emphasis ... and the basis for arguing that increased capacity was not merely desirable but imperative, was on a ...fairytale future, in which passengers double, under the auspices of comprehensive and globally enforced carbon trading." This requires an effective global system in which the price of carbon rises from around £5 to several hundred £s which would greatly increase the price of air tickets. That is not likely to happen. The aim of the runway is to make flying cheaper, not more expensive, so people take even more flights. " The infrastructure we have now is enough to speed climate change. "Transport networks need to be re-engineered for decarbonisation. But that would require some real blue-sky thinking, and of that there is no sign."
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WWF comment on Commission’s Heathrow runway support – and the CO2 problem it would cause government
Commenting on the Airports Commission's recomendation of Heathrow for a 3rd runway, the CEO of WWF-UK, David Nussbam said: “UK aviation has a serious CO2 emissions challenge. Runway expansion would make the problem worse and the solutions tougher. The Prime Minister should consider that ordinary families, businesses and our environment will gain little from a new runway. Expanding Heathrow would be the worst outcome for the environment. It would lead to the greatest increases in noise, in air pollution, and in climate-damaging CO2 emissions. Expanding runway capacity will not make Britain more prosperous, but it will make it impossible for the aviation sector to play its proper role in meeting the UK’s emissions targets, to which the Prime Minister and Climate Change Secretary are committed. The greater the emissions from aviation, the greater pressure there will be on other businesses to reduce their CO2 emissions even further. If the Government supports the Davies report, they will have to present a plan showing how these reductions will be achieved elsewhere – and at what price to the UK economy and people."
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Environmental case for new Heathrow runway has ‘Airbus-sized holes’ in it
The Airports Commission said the new runway should come with severe restrictions and be compatible with UK climate change and air pollution targets. But environmentalists dismiss the Commission's calculations. Greenpeace UK chief scientist Dr Doug Parr said: "When it comes to carbon emissions the Davies’ analysis has holes big enough to fly an Airbus through. His claim that a new runway could be compatible with the UK's climate targets is based on the unrealistic assumptions like the need for a 6,600% rise in carbon taxes, rose-tinted estimates about improvements in aircraft efficiency, and false solutions like biofuels....This is just a smokescreen to hide the obvious fact that a new runway will almost certainly derail our legally-binding climate targets. In the year the world is coming together to tackle climate change, we should be talking about how to manage demand, not where to store up a new carbon bomb." Friends of the Earth’s Andrew Pendleton commented: “The UK will be a laughing stock if it turns up at crucial climate talks in Paris later this year, claiming global leadership while at home having nodded through new runways, killed its onshore wind industry and foisted fracking on communities that don't want it.”
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Friends of the Earth warn that airport expansion will undermine UK climate action
Commenting ahead of the Airports Commission report which is expected to recommend airport expansion at either Gatwick or Heathrow, Friends of the Earth’s head of campaigns Andrew Pendleton said: “It's simply not credible for the Government to build a new runway in the South East and still claim to be serious about tackling climate change. "Airport expansion will also have huge impacts on the local community, noise levels and air quality. We can't preach to the world about stopping catastrophic climate change on the one hand and send aviation emissions soaring on the other."
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Blog from The Carbon Brief: Aviation’s battle to limit rising emissions – maybe only by limiting demand growth
A huge question mark hangs over how the new runway would be compatible with the UK's climate change targets. The key issue is not where a runway should be built, but whether it should be built at all. A blog by the Carbon Brief discusses how the UK dilemma on this is a microcosm of the global story of rapid expansion in the aviation industry, at a time when emissions need to rapidly decrease. Currently, UK aviation emissions are set to far exceed 2005 levels in 2050 - though the CCC has today reiterated that UK aviation must not emit more than around the 2005 level (about 37.5MtCO2 per year) by 2050. Even if no new runways are built in the UK, aviation CO2 emissions may be at 47Mt in 2050, according to DfT statistics. Without a carbon price and if airport expansion is unconstrained, the CCC project that UK aviation demand could grow more than 200% between 2005 and 2050. Globally, according to the UNFCCC, aviation emissions increased by 76.1% between 1990 and 2012. Projections from ICAO indicate that CO2 emissions from global aviation are set to grow 200%-360% on current levels by 2050. Reducing demand or, at the very least, reducing the growth in demand, may be the only way to keep the CO2 emissions down. The Carbon Brief adds: "If the UK government decides to give the go-ahead for a new runway, it will find it has a difficult task ahead in proving that it is not part of the problem."
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Committee on Climate Change confirm aviation CO2 must remain capped – putting new runway into question
On the eve of the Airports Commission’s runway recommendation, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has told Government it has until 2016 to set out an effective plan for limiting aviation emissions. The Government’s official advisory body on delivery of the UK’s Climate Change Act used its 5th ‘Progress Report’ to Government to highlight the need for action on aviation, including constraints on demand. The CCC says that given the anticipated growth in emissions from the sector, the DfT must set out how it will ensure that emissions from aviation are no higher in 2050 than they were in 2005 (37.5 Mt). The limited scope for improvements in aviation technology mean that demand growth must be kept to no more than 60% above its 2005 level. Current forecasts of air passenger growth with associated CO2 emissions exceed this level EVEN WITHOUT adding a new runway. With a new SE runway the growth in passenger demand - and thus CO2 emissions - would be even higher. Extensive analysis by the AEF has shown that a new runway would make the aviation emissions cap (37.5MtCO2 annually) impossible to achieve. Ruling out a new runway is the most obvious first step for the Government to take in response to the CCC's advice. Adding a runway, and then having to deal with the extra carbon problem it has produced, is not an efficient way to deal with the issue.
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US airline industry lobby, A4A, hoping it will not need to make further CO2 savings – more NextGen instead
The trade lobbying group, Airlines for America (A4A), argues that the airline industry has already done its part to reduce CO2 emissions. It says it is now up to the US government to get improvements to the air traffic control system that could reduce airline fuel consumption, by cutting extra miles flown. Recently the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) released an "endangerment finding" that that greenhouse gases from aircraft pose a risk to human health. So A4A is pushing back, and saying that US airlines have "more than doubled fuel efficiency since 1978 [planes were very fuel inefficient then]." Leaving out the constantly rising numbers of flights and passengers, they hope to persuade government that there is no need to have any further regulations on their carbon emissions, or emissions standards for aircraft. While the industry hopes for 1.5% efficiency gains per year, this would be negated by its hopes of growing by 4% per year. There is the issue of whether the US and the EU might have different emissions standards, and how that affects trans-Atlantic flights. Airlines are thriving, the fuel price has fallen, and they are making profits. But the industry wants more flight path changes, to cut costs, through NextGen, which have proved so unpopular in subjecting communities to worse noise.
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Andrew Simms: “Forget Heathrow and Gatwick expansion, the Davies report should tackle frequent flyers”
The Airports Commission will finally report next week. But many feel it has avoided the far more important questions: whether Britain needs any more runways at all. And would a better approach be to tackle the small numbers of very frequent flyers? Contrary to the popular misconception, business flights are not what a new runway is for. The Commission itself is aware that official figures show a decline in business flights, with only about 11% of flights abroad being by business travel. UK regional airports have ample, spare capacity if additional business routes are needed. The vast majority of flights using UK airports are for leisure travel, and a new runway would enable the relatively small minority who already take many leisure trips, by air, each year to take even more. Data shows that just 15% of UK residents take three or more flights per year, and these tend to be relatively well off people. That 15% accounts for 70% of all flights taken. With a strong economic and environmental case against expanding airport capacity, and declining business demand, the argument is now being made to apply the polluter pays principle by introducing a frequent flyer levy. Because flying is subsidised (air tickets do not include VAT or fuel duty) those who take the most flights receive the most public subsidy. The Commission are trying to answer the wrong question - not just building a runway, but considering how to manage air travel better.