Climate policy, noise action plans and our 34th AGM
23rd November, 2009
While momentum builds behind the upcoming climate talks in Copenhagen this December, we’ve has been continuing our discussions with the UK’s Committee on Climate Change (CCC), which will on 8th December be publishing a report on how UK aviation can meet the Government’s target of ensuring aviation emissions in 2050 are no higher than in 2005. We also heard the transport secretary, Lord Adonis, outlining the Government’s plans for low-carbon transport at the London Transport Museum, in which he noted that “an electric train typically emits up to a third less carbon per passenger mile than a diesel train – and less than half as much as a private car and a quarter as much as a short haul plane”.
On the same day, our Director attended a meeting of the Department for Transport’s external advisory group, which covered a range of issues including climate change, noise action plans, the aviation national policy statement, and an Ipsos Mori report on the Air Transport White Paper, which has found a widespread feeling even among industry respondents that environmental impacts were not properly taken into account in the 2003 policy.
We’ve also, in the past fortnight, held a successful AGM, with a seminar on noise action plans which stimulated a lot of discussion among members, while a new story on our website reports the results of a major academic study, which has found that aircraft noise has become more annoying for people across Europe than in the past.
Inquiries during the past two weeks have included questions about noise metrics, AEF policy on air passenger duty and on biofuels, and separate inquiries about helicopter noise in Buckinghamshire and in Luton.