Greenpeace responds to Committee on Climate Change's letter on aviation and shipping emissions

In response to the Committee on Climate Change's letter to the Secretary of State for Transport on integrating the UK's aviation and shipping emissions with our net zero target, Dr Doug Parr, Chief Scientist for Greenpeace UK, said -

“The government’s climate advisors have made it very clear that the UK’s aviation emissions must be included in our carbon budget. This allows for further growth in the sector of 25% by 2050, assuming that all of the industry’s planned technological improvements work as intended. That means that the government’s current aviation strategy is incompatible with our net zero target, and must be revised. The new strategy must focus on restricting demand growth, and will either require Heathrow’s third runway being cancelled, or capacity restrictions on other airports to balance Heathrow’s expansion. It must also include contingencies to further restrict demand should any of the technological measures fail to live up to expectations.”