UK airlines have missed all climate targets set since 2000 except for one, a new report claims. The aviation industry sets its own goals for cutting its environmental footprint. A representative for the UK aviation industry said it was committed to significantly reducing its greenhouse gas emissions. In 2018 air travel was responsible for 7% of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Possible, the charity behind the research, investigated the issue to find out whether airlines can be relied upon to tackle their role in causing emissions that lead to climate change. “Companies set grand-sounding targets with a lot of fanfare and announcement. They talk about them for a couple of years – then the targets sink without trace, never to be seen again,” Leo Murray from Possible told BBC News.
The research looked at environmental goals airlines have set themselves since 2000. Most of the targets focused on using greener fuels to power aeroplanes or making fuel more efficient. EasyJet was the only company named in the research that was found to have met a target. It successfully reduced fuel burn per passenger kilometre by 3% by 2015, Possible says.
But Possible claims it missed other goals, including a plan in 2007 to build the “EcoJet” that would emit 50% less CO2 than its current planes. The ambition was mentioned again in 2009, Possible says, but the company appeared to drop the target and the EcoJet was never built. “The EcoJet was a prototype concept which was used to urge the industry to produce planes that significantly reduce carbon emissions. Our ultimate ambition today has only strengthened to achieve zero carbon emission flying,” a spokesperson for EasyJet told BBC News. Possible also points out that between 2010-12 Virgin Atlantic said that 10% of its fuel would be biofuel by2022. Possible announced it will use 10% alternative fuels says the target wasn’t mentioned again. In 2021 Virgin Atlantic by 2030.
