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Minister for climate change, Ian Pearson has spoken at two public meetings hosted by West London MPs. The first was at Brentford with Ann Keen and the second at Parliament with Andrew Slaughter and Karen Buck.

Press release issued after the second meeting follows.

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Climate Minister Exposed Over Aviation

Friends of the Earth were present at a climate change event hosted by West London MPs Andrew Slaughter and Karen Buck [1] on 23 May at the House of Commons. The main speaker was Ian Pearson, Minister of State for Climate Change and the Environment.

Minister Ian Pearson was asked why international aviation and shipping are not included in the climate bill targets. His ‘explanation’ was that there is no international agreement on the method of allocating emissions between countries.

Nic Ferriday, spokesperson for West London Friends of the Earth, said “Ian Pearson’s justification for omitting aviation is fatuous. The climate bill is a UK matter, so there is absolutely no need for international agreement on how we calculate UK emissions.”

Ian Pearson’s excuse is even more flimsy since there is in fact an agreed method of reporting emissions [2]

Nic Ferriday added “The real reason for excluding aviation is that the government’s plans for expanding Heathrow and other airports across the UK would make a nonsense of the targets in their new climate bill.” [3,4]

Notes

1. Andrew Slaughter is MP for Ealing, Acton and Shepherd’s Bush. Karen Buck is MP for Regents Park & Kensington North. She had a spell as minister for aviation where she supported the expansion of Heathrow and airports across the country, despite their potential impact on climate.

2. The UK government already has a method which has international approval. The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) publishes internationally-accepted guidelines to states on how to report emissions from international ‘bunker fuels’. The UK is required to submit this information as a ‘memo item’ to UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) along with our annual greenhouse gas inventory. Accordingly the Government has for several years compiled and reported official figures for emissions from international aviation.

3. Heathrow aircraft already emit some 14 million tonnes pa of carbon dioxide (CO2). If Heathrow grows in line with the national forecasts, Heathrow aircraft will emit 23 million tonnes pa by 2030 and 25 million by 2050. (Friends of the Earth estimates - there are no government or industry figures available.)

4. The target in the bill is a 60% reduction in emissions by 2050. Meanwhile, aviation emissions are forecast to increase rapidly. The Tyndall Centre for Climate Research calculates that by 2050 aviation would take up 50% of the UK’s entire allowance and far more if greenhouse gases other than CO2 are included.

May 2006

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