SCOTTISH CLIMATE TARGETS THREATENED BY HUGE INCREASE IN AVIATION EMISSIONS

29 May 2008
Topics: Transport, Climate

A leading aviation campaigner will reveal previously unpublished figures showing an alarming forecast in the rise of greenhouse gases resulting from Scottish air travel, which will threaten Scotland’s ability to meet its climate change targets.

Speaking at a Friends of the Earth Scotland event in Edinburgh this weekend, aviation expert Jeff Gazzard will show that Scottish emissions resulting from air travel are forecast to more than double in the period from 2005 to 2030. This would make it impossible to reach the target required by the Scottish Climate Change Bill - which is an 80% reduction by 2050 or 3% decrease year on year.

Journalists are invited to attend the session, which will take place in the Melting Pot, 5 Rose Street, Edinburgh on Saturday 31 May from 12.30-13.30.

Referring to previously unpublished Department of Transport statistics [1], Jeff Gazzard, who represents the Green Skies Alliance, will show that greenhouse gas emissions from Scottish domestic and international aviation were 2.3 million tonnes of CO2 in 2005 and are projected to rise to 5.8 million tonnes in 2030. Aviation currently represents 4.3% of Scotland’s greenhouse gas emissions, and the predictions indicate that in 2030 – assuming the overall targets are being met - they will rise to 22.7%. If aviation emissions continued to grow at the same rate, by 2050 they alone would exceed Scotland’s target for the total permitted emissions. [2]

Jeff Gazzard said:

“This makes a complete nonsense of the welcome targets proposed in the Scottish Climate Change Bill. If the Scottish Government excludes international aviation from the Bill’s targets then the credibility of those targets would be shot to tatters. But if it is included, and allowed to grow at the current rate, then to meet its climate change targets Scotland would have to halt other essential activities, including public and private transport for passengers and freight, long before 2050. This is clearly an unsustainable situation. Growth in aviation must therefore be constrained.”

The campaigner will show that if aviation grows at the projected rate in Scotland, by 2030 it will account for more emissions than the Grangemouth refinery and Peterhead power stations combined. Unconstrained, aviation would be a greater source of emissions than any other single entity, and both undermine and outweigh all other sectors’ endeavors to reduce emissions.

Jeff Gazzard continued:

“Imagine the chaos if Grangemouth and Peterhead simply stopped tomorrow – yet this is the sort of sacrifice that we’d need to make if we think we can do anything worthwhile about climate change without tackling aviation growth. While some air travel may be considered essential, maybe sometimes we should think about getting the train from Edinburgh or Glasgow to London, maybe making a conference call instead of taking a business flight to that meeting, and considering whether we really need to go shopping for the weekend in Dubai or New York?”

Jeff Gazzard is backing Friends of the Earth Scotland’s latest campaign to ensure that international aviation emissions are included in the Scottish Climate Change Bill. He will be speaking at Friends of the Earth Scotland’s Annual General Meeting and his session is open for the media to attend.

ENDS

NOTES

[1] In November 2007 DfT issued a document "UK air passenger demand and carbon dioxide forecasts". Table G12 on Page 119 contained CO2 emissions forecasts by UK airport but several were rounded down to "0" rendering the information on Scottish airports unclear.
When requested to release the Scottish figures in May 2008 they did within 24 hours. http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/aviation/environmentalissues/ukairdemandandco2forecasts/

[2] Based on annual growth in aviation emissions of approx 3.7% resulting in approx 11.5mt CO2 emissions by 2050, and a Scottish target for 2050 of 10.05mt_CO2 (an 80% cut).

GreenSkiesAlliance is Europe's environmental NGO and citizen groups working together to control & reduce the negative impacts of air transport. http://www.greenskies.org/

Friends of the Earth Scotland exists to help people in Scotland look after the planet for everyone’s future. We think globally, and act in Scotland - delivering solutions to climate change and other environmental problems, by enabling and empowering people to take individual and collective action. www.foe-scotland.org.uk

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