The UK's aviation industry has outlined its plans to reach a target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 even with the additional flights expected following the construction of a third runway at London's Heathrow airport. At an event with UK Transport Secretary Grant Schapps, aviation executives signed a pledge committing to the timeline.
Photo: revedavion.com / Creative Commons Licence: CC BY-NC-SA
The plans were published by the UK's Sustainable Aviation coalition, which includes budget airline easyJet, engine-maker Rolls-Royce, AirBP - the aviation fuel arm of BP, and planemakers Airbus and Boeing, amongst others.
The plans came following a review of ways and means to cutting aviation emissions and form a central part of the coalition's "Decarbonisation Road-Map: A Path to Net Zero". The road-map outlines in detail where reductions can come from including making flight operations smarter, modernising UK airspace, investing in new engine technology and aircraft, widespread adoption of aviation fuels and implementing market-based policy measures.
With air passenger numbers expected to grow by as much as 70% by 2050, inevitably increasing the number of flights, the target looks like a difficult one for an industry that has become renowned for its large carbon footprint - around 30 million tonnes of CO2 per year, around 7% of the UK's total emissions. However, the industry says it will offset this by financing reductions elsewhere.
Carbon offsetting could include a programme of tree planting or providing funds for renewable energy projects in developing countries.
Sustainable Aviation says that despite anticipated growth in business, the targets can be met even with the third runway at Heathrow, expected to open in 2030.
Critics of the plans, however, have said that the plan to offset a large portion of the industry's emissions reduces the incentive for the drastic emissions cuts that are necessary to slow down global warming. It added that carbon offset programmes do not always bring the intended benefits - for example, newly planted trees may not grow as quickly as expected.
Climate activists and residents groups in the Heathrow area oppose the £14-billion (€16.5-billion) plans for expansion, which would see the construction of the first full-length new runway in the London area for 70 years.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has opposed the expansion plans in the past. In 2015, he told the press and local residents that he would "lie down in front of the bulldozers" to stop the expansion of Heathrow, which is a neighbour of his Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency. Parliament approved the expansion plans put forward by Johnson's predecessor, Theresa May in 2018. Johnson, who was Foreign Secretary at the time and could have faced losing his job if he did not vote with the government, was in Afghanistan when the bill went through parliament, thus he officially abstained, sidestepping a difficult choice between his government and his constituents.
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