Participating in global agreement on aircraft CO2 metric, and commenting on the draft UK aviation policy

1st August, 2012

The past fortnight saw the publication of the draft aviation policy framework, and AEF provided initial comment on our website the same day. The anticipated ‘call for evidence’ on hub airport capacity was delayed until autumn, however and without explicit discussion of airport expansion, press interest in the framework was minimal. As it addresses the question of environmental conditions for possible expansion, however, it is of critical importance to AEF and our members, and we are planning various activities for the coming months in relation to the consultation.

Tim, meanwhile, took part in discussions of the UN ICAO’s Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection, which concluded with an agreement on how aircraft CO2 performance should be measured. This represents the first step towards agreeing minimum efficiency standards for aircraft to complement the ICAO noise standards. Tim’s comment on behalf of the International Coalition for Sustainable Aviation appeared in GreenAir online.

Also during the past two weeks, the AEF’s Executive Council also met to provide its bimonthly scrutiny of our work. And we responded to inquiries from AEF members, MPs, journalists and members of the public on topics as wide ranging as helicopter noise in SE1, the Olympics, and the handling of Freedom of Information requests.