The government’s current approach to mitigating the climate impacts of aviation while proceeding with airport expansion could put net zero delivery in “serious jeopardy”, a committee of MPs has found.
The cross-party Environmental Audit Committee has delivered its verdict on the government’s plans to expand several airports, in its report published today on ‘Airport expansion and climate and nature targets’.
The Committee’s inquiry examined whether the government can deliver airport expansion and meet the environmental goals that it has signed up for.
Currently, government policies are insufficient to deliver a reduction in carbon emissions from the aviation sector in line with carbon budgets. Alongside an increase in demand, this puts the government’s delivery of net zero in serious jeopardy.
“Whilst it may be possible for the government to deliver airport expansion alongside its climate and environment targets, we are concerned that the proposed environmental impact from airport expansion will make such targets significantly more difficult to achieve and at much greater effort and cost,” the Committee says.
“Furthermore, the government has not demonstrated that the economic growth from airport expansion provides enough benefit to outweigh the negative climate and environmental impacts it will lead to,” they add.
While expanding airport capacity is likely to provide some growth to the UK economy, MPs say the level of that growth is unclear and that the government has failed to provide substantial supporting evidence. Approving expansions already at Stansted, Luton and Gatwick suggests it is proceeding without the necessary evidence base to sufficiently underpin its economic arguments, the Committee says.
Ministers have ruled out measures to manage demand for aviation, such as limiting the number of fights available. MPs say that the government will need to demonstrate what alternative tools it will use instead, given that the Climate Change Committee cites demand management as one way to achieve environmental targets.
The Committee says the current Jet Zero Strategy relies on a far higher cost to industry to abate emissions than is currently seen and requires significant carbon savings to come from technology. These potentially carbon saving technologies, such as Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) have not yet been seen on a commercial scale.
The Committee also raises its concern that ministers are proceeding with expansion before updating the Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS), originally produced in 2018. By doing so, MPs warn the Government is relying on “an outdated policy framework which is inconsistent with its objectives” and not allowing for proper scrutiny of expansion proposals against the new ANPS.
The government must set out whether it will be able to deliver on its climate, environment and biodiversity targets while pursuing significant airport expansion, MPs say. It must do so before or alongside publishing an updated Airports National Policy Statement and before any further substantial expansion projects are underway.
Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee, Toby Perkins MP said: “The aviation industry is critically important to the UK, but it’s also one of the hardest sectors of our economy to decarbonise. The government has made clear it is set on expanding airport capacity; the Committee has investigated how it can do that whilst meeting its own environmental targets.
“Meeting our decarbonisation targets is already a major challenge. Expanding airport capacity is likely to make that task much harder. Under the government’s existing Jet Zero Strategy, expanding airport capacity is likely to put net zero at serious risk, unless it is accompanied by a serious strategic approach to increasing the pace of decarbonising aviation.
“Having ruled out the kind of demand management measures likely to seriously reduce emissions, ministers need to make clear what alternative tools they are willing to use to ensure targets are met. New technological developments are promising and may in time provide an alternative route forward. But are they yet ready to be the basis for justifying this level of aviation expansion?
“At the same time, the government is proposing to expand airport capacity because it will help to grow the economy. But Ministers were unable to point us to solid evidence setting out how much growth such expansion would deliver. If these plans are ever to get off the ground, it’s vital that the government provide us with some hard facts.
“This problem can’t simply be outsourced to industry; the scale of the challenge is too great and only government has access to some of the tools needed. It’s time for the government to step up and take responsibility for its own targets. I’m concerned that the alternative is a lose-lose scenario that leaves a dynamic net zero economy out on the runway.”
