Government told to halve planned flight growth to achieve carbon net zero 2050 target

Official advisors urge ministers to assess ‘airport capacity strategy’ to reduce emissions

Cuts need to be made to reach carbon emissions goal (Reuters)

The government has been told it needs to halve flight growth plans if it wants to hit its target of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Official advisors the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) published a letter to Transport Minister Grant Shapps, highlighting the changes that need to be made to the aviation industry if the goal is to be reached.

While it stated that aviation emissions could be reduced through improvements to fuel efficiency and the use of sustainable biofuels, the CCC also suggested a growth cap of no more than 25 per cent more flights than current levels to achieve net zero.

The government’s plans at present allow for twice this increase.

The letter made it clear that while new fuels, such as synthetic carbon-neutral kerosene and algal biofuels, could enable bigger reductions, “their development is highly speculative and should not be relied upon”.

Ministers were urged to assess the current airport capacity strategy.

“Aviation is likely to be the largest emitting sector in the UK by 2050, even with strong progress on technology and limiting demand,” said the CCC.

“Aviation also has climate warming effects beyond CO2, which it will be important to monitor and consider within future policies.”

Other organisations have welcomed the call for a curb on the rapid expansion of the aviation industry.

“British people currently take more international flights than anyone else in the world, but there’s a growing public recognition that this feels out of step with the action we need to take on climate change, and two-thirds of Britons say they support limiting air travel to address the climate crisis,” said Cait Hewitt, deputy director at the Aviation Environment Federation.

“The Government’s dodged the issue of aviation emissions for too long. With climate targets that are now tougher than ever, it’s time for them to look again at plans for new runways, bigger airports and more flights, and focus instead on delivering an effective plan to make the aviation sector accountable for its emissions.”

Schemes to create more sustainable and less damaging aviation fuel include British Airways’ plan to create Europe’s first commercial scale waste-to-fuels plant.

In partnership with Shell and Velocys, the airline is aiming to convert household and commercial waste into cleaner burning jet fuel, which will deliver a net CO2 saving of around 70 per cent for every tonne of conventional fuel it displaces.