Air Travel and Climate Change

Between 2000 and 2020, the number of people passing through UK airports is due to double from 180 million per year to 400 million per year, according to Government figures. To meet this demand would require the equivalent, according to some estimates, of FOUR new Heathrow airports and EIGHT new Gatwicks.

The government is enthusiastically supporting this gross expansion of air travel at the same time as saying it wants to take action against climate change. They don’t seem to realise that they are contradicting themselves. The plan is to expand almost every airport in Britain and build huge new concrete runways across green fields at Stansted, Birmingham, Heathrow and Edinburgh.

The government is ignoring its own advisors - the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, the Environmental Audit Committee, and the Sustainable Development Commission - who are all saying that this is a dangerous and destructive policy.

Jet travel is terrible for climate change: not only do planes use a lot of fuel, and therefore pump out tons of carbon dioxide - but the altitude at which they fly, and the other exhaust gases they produce, means that the actual impact on climate change is THREE TIMES what it would seem to be from the carbon dioxide alone. You can work out the real impact of any flight at the Choose Climate website on www.chooseclimate.org

Aviation is the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions – although it accounts for only 3.5% of our emissions today, at current predicted growth rates, it could account for up to 20% by 2030. Aviation is not covered by the Kyoto Protocol (because the countries couldn't decide how to allocate CO2 emissions since aircraft fly between different nations).

If you want more detail about the effects of aircraft emissions, see the box below.

The mystery of cheap flights (& that means all  flights)

Even flights sold at the normal rate are under-priced – the cost of the ticket bears no relation to the true environmental cost.

Given that they use so much fuel, why on earth are flights so cheap? One reason is that no tax is paid on aircraft fuel. A litre of fuel costs the airlines one fifth of the price at a roadside petrol pump (which is also why flown-in fruit and vegetables are economically feasible).  And because airports and airlines are a prestige symbol, they are heavily subsidised by governments. The UK Government is currently subsidising the aviation industry to the tune of around £7 billion/ year

Oil itself is ridiculously cheap. If you think about where oil originated, it took many millions of years for tiny creatures in the sea to capture sunlight energy and CO2 and store the carbon in oil reserves - yet we pay only for the cost of the oil. Because it is not truly valued, and priced appropriately, we squander this limited resource.

In addition, flights are cheap because the atmosphere is a global commons, free for everyone (in theory) to use. The emissions from aircraft impose a great burden on the world's climate which will be borne by everyone, including those who have never flown in their lives. The highest price will be paid in some of the poorest countries of the world, such as Bangladesh, which are vulnerable to storm damage, drought or rising sea-level. In economists’ jargon, we need to "internalise" these costs, which are currently "externalities".

Another reason that flights are cheap is because they are fuel-intensive, whereas other forms of public transport, such as railways, are more labour-intensive. People's labour is taxed heavily through income tax. If we increased fuel taxes, we could decrease labour taxes, and train tickets could become cheaper.

Many of the poorest in the UK are suffering from fuel poverty, because heating fuel is taxed - yet air fuel is not taxed. According to figures from Caroline Lucas MEP (her website is well worth a look), those who don't fly are subsidising those who do, to the tune of £183 per person nationwide.

What about the local impact on our environment ?

More airports, more runways, many more flights – forgetting climate change for a minute, what effect does all this have on the environment right here and now?

Noise from aircraft has genuine and significant health effects, as does the fear of crashes. In addition, a recent study by researchers at the University of London shows that the reading ability of children living under flight paths is worse than that of children in similar economic circumstances elsewhere. The European Court has decreed that night flights deprive people of their human right to a decent night's sleep. Overall, the poor are more likely to live under flight paths.

There is still some unspoiled countryside left in our country, and this is precious and irreplacable. Noise ruins everyday life, holidays, weekends away - everything. In a small island such as ours, where we already have many airports, plus the nerve-shattering noise of RAF training flights in many rural areas, further airport expansion is madness. If we spoil more and more of our own countryside, and make it so noisy that there are no quiet green places to relax – then what ? Well, you will just have to get on a plane to get away from it all…

So what can you do?

As individuals, there are things we can do to improve the situation, firstly as informed consumers, and secondly as campaigners.

Informed Consumer Actions

q       As far as possible - DON'T FLY! Planes threaten to destroy the very world we want to see and enjoy – coral reefs, for example. Think hard about it before you hop on a plane – is it really what you want to do? Regard air travel as a privilege and a luxury, as it used to be, and still is for most of the world’s population.