Archived press release

Airport Expansion Will Wreck UK Climate Change Targets

10 December 2003

Building new runways stimulating a massive increase in flights will make it impossible for the UK to meet its targets for cutting climate change emissions, Friends of the Earth warned today. The environmental campaign group has written to Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett urging her to oppose new runway proposals when the Cabinet discusses the issue later this week [1]. The Air Transport White Paper is expected to be published next week [2].

In an open letter to Environment Minister Margaret Beckett, Friends of the Earth highlighted findings from a recent Commons Audit Committee warning that Government proposals for a growth in aviation emissions "could totally destroy the Government's commitment to a 60% cut in carbon dioxide emissions by 2050" and that the Department for Transport is "little interested in sustainability" [3]. Mrs Beckett is urged to argue for a sustainable aviation policy which reflects the Government's commitment to reducing emissions.

Friends of the Earth is calling on the Government to introduce a sustainable aviation policy in its Air Transport White Paper which will manage the demand for air travel through the introduction of fair taxation for aviation and lead to genuine reductions in the industry's impacts, such as noise and air pollution, generation of road traffic and pressure for built development. The Government's own computer forecasting model has shown that no new runways would be needed anywhere before 2030 if fair taxation was introduced.

In a separate development at the International Climate Change Convention meeting in Milan this week, delegates heard how storms are becoming more severe in the UK as climate change starts to affect our weather patterns [4].

Friends of the Earth's aviation campaigner Richard Dyer said:

"If the Government allows more runways, it will miss its targets to tackle dangerous climate change. We've heard already this week how the UK is experiencing more severe weather as a result of climate change. Knowing this, it will be the height of irresponsibility for the Government to permit airport expansion. Mrs Beckett must not let the airline industry's insatiable demand for more runways push Ministers into destroying Tony Blair's ambitious and welcome promise to protect our climate by cutting UK carbondioxide emissions by 60% by 2050."

Notes

[1] The text of Friends of the Earth's letter to Margaret Beckett is available on request.

[2] `Budget 2003 and Aviation' House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee - July 2003.

[3] Ministers are meeting this week to make the final decisions on if, when and where new runways will be built, and other measures to make up a new air transport policy for the next thirty years. Their decision is expected to be announced in next week's Air Transport White Paper.

Friends of the Earth's briefing on the White Paper is here:
www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefings/air_transport_white_paper.pdf(PDF format)

[4] `Climate Change Scenarios for the United Kingdom: The UKCIP02 Briefing Report'
- Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research - December 2003.

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