Low budget airlines strike back, with a scientific study and calls for balanced debate on the environment
Greenskies april 2006 newsletter
A copy of the full report may be downloaded at :
http://www.elfaa.com/documents/FrontierEconomicsreportforELFAA-http://www.elfaa.com/documents/FrontierEconomicsreportforELFAA-Economicconsideration.pdf
"An end to sloppy thinking and hysterical persecution": ELFAA calls for a
balanced debate on the environment
BRUSSELS March 20, 2006 The European Low Fares Airline Association (ELFAA)
has commissioned one of Europe's leading economics consulting firms, Frontier
Economics, to prepare a report that provides an objective assessment of the
economic issues relating to proposals to include aviation in the European
Union's Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS).
Speaking today following the publication of the Frontier Report, Secretary
General for ELFAA, Jan Skeels, said: "Contrary to common misconception, aviation
is not a major emitter and in fact its contribution to EU emissions accounts for
only 4% of EU15 CO2 emissions and will only account for around 5% of EU25 CO2
emissions by 2030. This shows that too much of the debate thus far has been
based upon inaccurate and one-sided information. The result is that some of
Europe's biggest offenders in terms of emissions, in particular road transport,
are getting off lightly and aviation is being characterised as a major problem.
ELFAA members are in favour of the principles behind the EU's Emissions Trading
Scheme. However aviation brings many benefits to consumers and the European
economy generally so it must therefore be demonstrated from a cost benefit
perspective that it is appropriate to include aviation in the ETS and that doing
so would actually be environmentally effective and not damage economic growth.
Our airlines have made huge investments in the latest technology aircraft and
have been at the cutting edge of reducing fuel burn and increasing efficiency.
They will continue to do their utmost to minimise fuel burn as it is a major and
growing cost item. It is
therefore questionable whether the inclusion of aviation in ETS would have any
additional benefit.
If it can be demonstrated that including aviation will actually positively
impact on emissions without damaging the growth of this important industry,
ELFAA would be calling for any scheme to include the largest possible proportion
of European flights. Restricting the scheme to only intra-EU flights would only
capture less than 1% of total EU emissions and therefore be a waste of time.
Furthermore, there is a trend in some Member States to impose taxes on air
travel under the guise of "environmental taxes", or in the case of France "a tax
for third world development". This is sloppy thinking and simply puts more money
into the pockets of governments with no benefit to the environment or developing
countries.
Air transport is a crucially important sector in achieving economic growth,
competitiveness and integration which are the main pillars of the European
project. The EU must start to properly consider the wider implications of bad
regulation in aviation on European competitiveness and growth. We hope that
policy makers will seriously consider the findings of the Frontier Report before
coming to any conclusions on including aviation in the EU ETS."
The report, "Economic consideration of extending the EU ETS to include aviation",
reaches a number of conclusions:
Contrary to much of the perceived wisdom, the contribution of aviation to
total CO2 emissions is material, but still small. While within the EU-15 airline
emissions may amount to around 4% of total CO2, the figure is likely to be
significantly lower when the 10 new Member States are taken into account given
that aviation activity in those countries is significantly underdeveloped.
Furthermore, while aviation is growing strongly, research suggests that its
share of total emissions is likely to be only around 5% by 2030.
This means there are bigger emitters, with much greater scope for improvement
such as power generation (34%) and road transport (20%), the latter which is
not currently covered at all by ETS.
Unlike many other industries, aviation is an enabler of economic growth in
other words, it "oils the wheels" of Europe's economy and, as such, any policy
that undermines growth in this sector risks damaging the European economy as a
whole. Some 3.1 million jobs and 221bn of GDP of in the EU-15 are dependent
upon aviation. It is also a key driver for integration with the new Member
States and growth under the EU's Lisbon Agenda.
Within the sector, airlines have been heavily incentivised for years to
operate more efficiently through the high price of kerosene. Over the past 30
years, airline emissions have fallen by 64% and continue to reduce as new
technology and more fuel efficient aircraft come on stream. O pportunities for
further abatement within aviation are therefore limited. The report's authors
have identified opportunities for abatement in EU aviation of the order of 17
million tonnes of CO2. This forms some 8% of all emissions generated by EU
flights. However, about 50% of this improvement would come from improvements in
Europe's famously inefficient air traffic management system and its patchwork of
control centres so efforts to improve air traffic management services must be
prioritised.
Any Emissions Trading Scheme must also:
Ensure that allowances are allocated fairly: airlines must not be given an
incentive to do nothing for the next few years so allowances must not be based
on grandfathering;
Guard against distortion of competition environmentally-efficient low-cost
airlines operating brand-new, clean and quiet aircraft must not be penalised in
favour of inefficient national airlines operating with old, dirty aircraft; and
Be pan-European the allocation process must have harmonised rules and
administration through the entire EU in order to avoid favouritism and illegal
protection of national airlines.
A copy of the full report may be downloaded at :
http://www.elfaa.com/documents/FrontierEconomicsreportforELFAA-http://www.elfaa.com/documents/FrontierEconomicsreportforELFAA-Economicconsideration.pdf
British Chartered Society of Physiotherapy: Dangerous levels of toxic gas detected at most major airports.
Greenskies april 2006 newsletter
CSP study shows some exceed EU limits by up to 75 per cent.Levels of a toxic
atmospheric pollutant exceed EU limits at most airports in England, according to
a new report published today by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy(CSP).
Over two thirds (16 out of 23) of the airports included in the CSPs study
recorded dangerously high levels of nitrogen dioxide a noxious gas that
irritates the airways of the lungs and causes breathing difficulties.The EU says
nitrogen dioxide levels need to stay below 40 micrograms per cubic metre of air
(mcg/m3) to be safe, but airports in Newcastle, Birmingham and London (Heathrow
and Gatwick) exceed this recommendation by up to 75 per cent. Readings at
airports in Manchester, Liverpool, Blackpool, Sheffield, Humberside, London
(City), Southampton, Exeter and Gloucester are up to 50 per cent higher than the
EU target.
Respiratory physiotherapists say the consequences of being exposed to the gas
can be especially severe among people with existing lung conditions, like asthma,
bronchitis and emphysema.
CSP spokesperson, Professor Grahame Pope, says:The effects of airport emissions
on air quality and public health are of serious concern to physiotherapists.
Its not just nitrogen dioxide polluting the environment around airports; our
study reveals high ozone (see note 4) concentrations at some sites too.
There is no doubt that aircraft contribute to the problem, but it should be
noted that cars, buses and taxis ferrying passengers to and from these sites are
dominant sources of pollution. With cheap flights making air travel more
affordable, several airports want to expand capacity. We would urge the
government to consider ways of balancing passenger convenience with improving
public health when looking at these proposals.
www.csp.org.uk
- - - We Are All Killers - Until we
stop flying - - -
Greenskies april 2006 newsletter -
www.monbiot.com
By George Monbiot. Published in the Guardian 28th February 2006 (...)
Despite the claims the companies make for the democratising effects of cheap
travel, 75% of those who use budget airlines are in social classes A, B and
C(23). People with second homes abroad take an average of six return flights a
year(24), while people in classes D and E hardly fly at all: because they can't
afford the holidays, they are responsible for just 6% of flights(25). Most of
the growth, the government envisages, will take place among the wealthiest
10%(26). But the people who are being hit first and will be hit hardest by
climate change are among the poorest on earth. Already the droughts in Ethiopia,
putting millions at risk of starvation, are being linked by climate scientists
to the warming of the Indian Ocean(27). Some 92 million Bangladeshis could be
driven out of their homes this century(28), in order that we can still go
shopping in New York.
Flying kills. We all know it, and we all do it. And we won't stop doing it until
the government reverses its policy and starts closing the runways.
Read the whole article on www.monbiot.com .