Climate Committee report launch and AEF in the media

18th December, 2009

At the start of 2009, the Government said it was appointing the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) to advise on how a new target could be achieved: the stabilisation of aviation emissions at 2005 levels by 2050. On 8th December, the Committee issued its advice to Government. At AEF, we were pleased to have been listed in the report’s acknowledgements and to have received two invitations to the launch event, at which Lord Turner of the CCC and Lord Adonis, the transport secretary, both spoke. We gave comment on the report’s findings on the radio (including Radio Leicester and the Jeremy Vine show) and in the press (including the Guardian and the BBC, as well as a number of specialist publications).

With the report having demonstrated that the Government’s aviation policy is not compatible with its climate policy (something AEF has been saying for a long time), it is clearly time for some new strategic thinking. In the past fortnight, in addition to our work on the climate report, AEF met with the Institute of Civil Engineers to discuss their recent work on developing possible future scenarios for aviation in the UK between now and 2040. And looking forward to future international work, we also met with a small group of representatives from the European Commission, industry and NGOs to discuss the messages we will each be taking to the UN’s aviation environment committee in February 2010, where AEF will continue to press for effective action on all aviation’s environmental impacts.

Back in the office, we’ve given advice to a number of individuals and organisations including writing a short paper on airport carbon emissions for the 10:10 campaign, discussing our concerns about noise action plans with a local authority, and giving information on what to do about helicopter noise in North London and icefalls in Suffolk.

New on the website in the past fortnight have been news items on the CCC report and on a new study on air freight, and commentary on the Transport Select Committee’s report on the future of aviation and on how the EC is clamping down on UK breaches of air quality laws .

After a busy December, we’re now winding down for Christmas but look forward to lots more aviation environment campaigning in 2010.