Aviation industry’s climate targets missed, study says

Fresh report from climate charity Possible shows international aviation industry missing on climate targets during the past twenty years.

Following the release of the report assessing the industry’s missed environment protection targets since 2000, Possible representatives believe that the UK government plan of allowing airlines to self-regulate in order to reduce emissions is insufficient.

The charity’s innovation manager, Leo Murray, declared:

“This forensic investigation shows just how implausible and credulous the government’s jet-zero strategy is shaping up to be. How can we credibly expect this industry to over-deliver on emissions reduction when they’ve never met any of their previous climate targets?

“It’s clear that we need to demand reduction via a frequent flyer levy, which would discourage the frequent flying by a small group of people which makes up the bulk of emissions from planes.”

According to Air Transport Action Group’s 2019 estimates, air travel accounted for 2.1% of human-produced carbon dioxide emissions, which translates into about 915m tonnes. Huge numbers when considering the climate related priorities of the aviation industry.

Superficial monitoring, inconsistent reporting and low interest for reducing the ecological impact also led to difficulties in assessing the final results.

“[Targets] appear to function principally as a tactic for giving an impression of progress and action to address aviation’s environmental impacts to the public and policymakers, in order to prevent any policy barriers to ongoing growth in the industry”, said the report.

An official jet-zero strategy is expected to be published by the UK government in July. As stated so far, authorities in the UK aim to reach jet zero by 2050, after £865m investments in Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and low-emission technology.

 

source: theguardian.com