AIRPORTS AND AVIATION INDUSTRY SUPPORTING NET-ZERO TARGETS LITTLE MORE THAN GRAND ANNOUNCEMENT

STOP HEATHROW EXPANSION

4 February 2020

For immediate use

AIRPORTS AND AVIATION INDUSTRY SUPPORTING NET-ZERO TARGETS LITTLE MORE THAN GRAND ANNOUNCEMENT

Following the aviation industry’s announcement on achieving a net-zero emissions target, through Sustainable Aviation, whose membership comprises Heathrow Airport Limited, Rob Barnstone, from Stop Heathrow Expansion, said:

“Although the aviation industry is attempting to be taken seriously on environmental commitments, their so-called “commitment” today in fact pledges virtually no change in the next five years and won’t be delivered until 2040, forcing larger carbon reductions in other sectors of the economy.

“We’ve heard the commitments before. In 2010 the industry pledged to achieve 10% of fuels from sustainable sources in 2020, yet by 2018, they had managed to source a grand total of 0.002% of their fuel from alternative sources.

“The recent advice of Committee on Climate Change cannot be ignored. They said just four months ago that expanding Heathrow would make aviation the single largest emitter of carbon emissions in the UK, at the expense of other sectors and our regional economies.

“Is that the path the Government wants to follow, when it is trying to “level-up?”

ENDS.

Notes:

1.     Committee on Climate Change letter to Grant Shapps, 24 Sep 19 https://www.theccc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Letter-from-Lord-Deben-to-Grant-Shapps-IAS.pdf

For more information, contact Rob Barnstone, Stop Heathrow Expansion, 07806947050 or Robert.barnstone@outlook.com