Government meetings, discussions on noise action plans, and getting to grips with carbon costs

1st February, 2010

The past fortnight has included several meetings with Government bodies. Tim and Cait met with Defra to discuss the noise policy statement that they’re currently putting together, and with DfT to discuss noise action plans (including our upcoming critique), the 2050 target for aviation emissions, and the environmental work plan of the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organisation. Tim also presented at an environmental symposium at the CAA, including discussion about the DfT’s proposal to create a general environmental duty for the CAA, and Cait took part in a DfT workshop on a methodology they are developing for calculating emissions from business travel and commuting.

New on our website in the past two weeks has been commentary on airlines’ access to free radio spectrum, the Government’s policy on ‘carbon valuation’ (a fairly heavy but important document on how the carbon costs of different policy decisions such as airport expansions should be evaluated), and a note on the recession-induced fall in aviation emissions in 2008.

We’ve also responded to a range of inquiries, including queries about noise action plans from a local authority in West London and from the legal centre of a large NGO, and about aviation fuel use figures from the Centre for Alternative Technology in Machynlleth.