A clutch of reports
3rd November, 2006
Four important new reports have been published this autumn:
- Pie in the Sky – Why the costs of airport expansion outweigh the benefits
- The future starts here – the route to a low carbon economy
- Predict and Decide – Aviation, climate change and UK policy
- The Stern report – ‘The Economics of Climate Change’
Pie in the Sky, published by Friends of the Earth in Sep 06, debunks the claims of the industry about the economic benefits of air travel and concludes that the costs of expansion actually outweigh the benefits.The Tyndall Centre for Climate Change published a report in Sep 06 which shows the UK could move a successful, low-carbon economy. However, it shows that unless aviation is constrained, the rest of the economy will have to be re-structured to make room for it.
The Environmental Change Institute, part of Oxford University, published a comprehensive report in Oct 2006 into the policy questions surrounding aviation and climate change. It confirms almost everything we have been saying about the need to constrain aviation growth.
The Stern report ‘The Economics of Climate Change’ was issued late Oct 2006. It is a mammoth report which spells out in grisly detail the costs of climate change and what we should do about it. The headline conclusion is that Unabated climate change could cost the world from 5% to 20% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) each year, but the cost of reducing emissions could be limited to around 1% of global GDP.