 Press Release - 28 September 2005 |
Press Notice issued by the Aviation Environment Federation (AEF)
CONTROLLING AVIATION'S IMPACT ON CLIMATE CHANGE:
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION OUTLINES ITS METHODS BUT NOT THE ENVIRONMENTAL OBJECTIVE
The AEF[1] today welcomed the release of the European Commission's
Communication on Aviation and Climate Change, but warned that Europe
urgently needs to identify the environmental targets it wishes the air
transport sector to achieve.
The Communication highlights the importance of taking regional action to
bring greenhouse gas emissions from aircraft under control in the absence of
any global proposals, and the need to tackle all the climate change impacts
of aircraft, not just its carbon dioxide emissions[2]. The measures outlined
in the Communication, which include aviation joining an emissions trading
scheme in the short-term and the potential role of taxation in the
long-term, highlight the tools available but the report stops short of
setting targets for reducing aviation emissions.
Tim Johnson, Director of the AEF, said “The range of market measures to
address this significant and growing problem[3] has been on the table for at
least six years. It is very positive that the Commission's Communication has
developed the arguments for their introduction, and outlined a way forward,
but the vital next step is to prioritise discussion on what we want these
instruments to achieve. We know the scale of the problem, we have agreed a
level at which we need to stabilise atmospheric greenhouse gases and now we
urgently need to agree a limit for emissions from the air transport sector.
Including aviation in an emissions trading scheme must not become an end in
itself, rather it should be a tool to secure genuine emissions reductions,
and that means setting a tough cap on the sector.[4]”
ENDS
NOTES FOR EDITORS
1. The AEF is the principal national association addressing aviation's
environmental impacts. Its members comprise local community and amenity
organisations around the UK's airports and airfields, parish councils and
local authorities. It was founded in 1975, and represents its members on
national, European and United Nations policy-making bodies.
2. In 1999, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published its
report on aviation that estimated the total climatic impact of aviation as
between 2 and 4 times that of its CO2 emissions alone. The 'multiplier'
effect is due largely to the impacts of oxides of nitrogen emitted at
altitude and the warming effect of contrails.
3. Emissions from EU air travel, if allowed to grow unchecked, are set to
consume the entire sustainable carbon budget of Europe by 2045. That is, if
we wish to stabilise atmospheric greenhouse gases at the level EU leaders
have agreed is necessary to avoid dangerous climate change, there will have
to be no emissions from any other sector if aviation continues to grow at
its present rate. This forecast, published recently by the Tyndall Centre
for Climate Research, takes into account all projections from the industry
for improvements in technological and operational efficiency.
4. In addition to a stringent cap, the AEF would like to see the auctioning
of allowance permits to airlines, the inclusion of emissions from all
flights departing EU airports, as well as the introduction of parallel
measures, such as taxes and charges, to tackle non-CO2 impacts.
For further information contact the office on 020 7248 2223, or
alternatively Tim Johnson on 07710 381742 or Peter Lockley 07976 899091.
AEF, Broken Wharf House, 2 Broken Wharf, London EC4V 3DT
Tel: 020 7248 2223 Fax: 020 7329 8160 Email: info@aef.org.uk Website: www.aef.org.uk
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