Government told: “Copenhagen deal must put cap on aviation emissions”

In a letter to Secretary of State for Transport, Lord Adonis and Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Miliband, the CCC has said that if a 50 per cent reduction in global emissions of all greenhouse gases (GHG) is to be achieved by 2050, developed countries must cut back aviation emissions to 2005 levels – and possibly lower.

The CCC has warned the Government that, if left unchecked, global aviation emissions could account for 15 to 20 per cent of all C02 produced in 2050, arguing that “a new and ambitious policy on aviation is therefore required” to stabilise global temperatures and avoid dangerous climate change. 

The CCC, which was set up as an independent advisory body under the Climate Change Act 2008, sent its letter in response to a Government request for advice, ahead of the UN summit at Copenhagen, on possible ways to reduce global aviation emissions.

Emissions from international aviation and shipping were left out of the Kyoto climate treaty, but the CCC believes a cap on global aviation emissions must be included in Copenhagen if a meaningful deal is to be made. It recommends that any target set there should not be less ambitious than that already agreed by the EU, which requires a five per cent reduction in net emissions from 2013-2020.

Even if the UK reduces its aviation emissions to 2005 levels by 2050 as it recommends, the CCC says other sectors of the British economy will have to cut emissions by 90 per cent if the UK is to achieve an overall emissions reduction of 80 per cent by 2050 as required by the Climate Change Act.

The CCC’s chief executive David Kennedy said: “It is vital that an agreement capping global aviation emissions is part of a Copenhagen deal. We are calling for a cap that would not require people to fly less than today, but would constrain aviation emissions growth going forward. 

“Such a cap together with deep emissions cuts in other sectors would limit the risk of dangerous climate change and the very damaging consequences for people here and in other countries that this would have”. 

Calls for a cap are likely to concern the UK aviation industry, which believes it can reduce emissions to below 2000 levels by 2050 – even with a threefold increase in passenger numbers over the same period. Earlier this year, a coalition of UK airlines, aerospace manufacturers and air navigation service providers, called Sustainable Aviation set out these measures in a ‘UK Roadmap', which based its projections of emission reductions on efficiencies expected from new airframe and engine technology, improved air traffic management and operations and the development of sustainable fuels.

A spokesperson for BA today said the company was already investing in new, cleaner aircraft and supporting the development of alternative low-carbon fuels, adding that BA has improved its carbon efficiency by 28 per cent since 1990 and aims to cut its net CO2 emissions by 50 per cent by 2050.

Friends of the Earth's aviation campaigner Richard Dyer, however, backed the CCC's call. He said: "The Climate Change Committee is right to call for the aviation industry to play its part in tackling global warming. International aviation emissions must be curbed as part of global plans to avoid catastrophic climate change.”

He added: "Rich countries must end their obsession with the growth of air travel, agree significant reductions in aviation emissions as part of a global climate agreement in Copenhagen, and ensure that this happens without cheating by carbon offsetting.”

Unlike Friends of the Earth, the CCC believes emissions trading and offsetting offer “useful short to medium term flexibility for meeting aviation targets”, but in the long-term warns that “significant domestic action is required as there is likely to be very limited scope for the aviation sector to meet 2050 targets through the purchase of credits”. 

The CCC believes it should be possible to cap emissions without reducing the number of flights we currently take. It says “radical innovation in engine, airframe and fuel technology” will be required to achieve this and says a funding source for aviation R&D should be identified as part of the deal in Copenhagen.

The CCC has undertaken to publish its advice on how the UK can meet the 2050 target to reduce gross aviation emissions back to 2005 levels – including consideration of scope for improvements in technology and the implications of further aviation expansion – on December 8 2009.