Working with Europe on aircraft efficiency, emissions trading, and VAT reform

18th May, 2011

In the past fortnight we’ve been working on a number of European issues. Tim, together with Brussels-based campaign group Transport and Environment, attended several meetings with officials from the European Commission to discuss the work on new aircraft efficiency standards that AEF has been involved with at ICAO. Tim also attended a breakfast seminar organised by the financial services company Standard and Poor’s to launch their report on the likely costs for airlines of inclusion in the EU Emissions Trading System. And Nic submitted our response to the EC consultation on VAT, arguing for the introduction on VAT on air travel.

In terms of UK policy, Tim presented at the Airport Operators Association conference on sustainable aviation, and Nic attended a meeting with BAA to discuss noise metrics. The metric most commonly used by UK policymakers is Leq (loudness equivalent), which represents noise over a period of time with a single average value, but this cannot, on its own, fully capture the amount of disturbance that can be caused by numerous relatively low-level noise events.

We have also continued to work with members on planning issues, and, via teleconference, attended a US NGO event to discuss how to tackle emissions from aviation and shipping.