[News] from [guardian.co.uk]
[World news > Air transport]
Cost of air travel 'must rise to deter people from flying'
Government advisory body on climate change says ticket prices should rise to ensure emissions fall to 2005 levels
David Batty and Caroline Davies
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 9 September 2009 08.09 BST Article history
The cost of air travel must rise to an extent that it deters people from flying and to compensate developing countries for the damage it does to the environment, according to the government's advisory body on climate change.
Ticket prices should rise to ensure that carbon dioxide emissions from aviation fall back to 2005 levels and to raise tens of billions of pounds in flight taxes to help developing nations adapt to climate change, for example, by building new flood defences, the committee on climate change says.
An agreement to cap aviation emissions must be reached at the UN climate talks in Copenhagen if countries are to meet targets to combat global warming, the committee said in a letter to ministers. Rich countries should take the lead, ensuring their aviation emissions were no higher or lower than they were in 2005 by 2050.
It says airlines should be forced to share the burden of meeting that emissions cut, the Times reports.
In advance of the December meeting in Denmark, the committee says any deal to reduce emissions from flying should be "ambitious", and the aim should be for no less than the EU's current plan, which require a 5% reduction in emissions from 2013 to 2020.
The committee could challenge the government's decision to approve a third runway at Heathrow airport in order to reduce C02 emissions sufficiently to meet that target, according to the paper.
While the cost per passenger of compensating developing countries for climate change would initially be small, it would eventually rise to a level that would deter people from flying.
The average passenger would pay under £10 extra per return ticket when aviation joins the European Union C02 emissions trading scheme in 2012, the Times says.
The scheme will give airlines free carbon permits covering 85% of their emissions but they will have to buy permits for the remaining 15%. The committee on climate change says airlines should have to pay for all their emissions, which would more than double the cost to passengers.
Writing to Lord Adonis, the transport secretary and Ed Miliband, the climate change secretary, the committee's chief executive, David Kennedy, said the measures would not force people to fly less.
"It is vital that an agreement capping global aviation emissions is part of a Copenhagen deal," he said.
"We are calling for a cap that would not require people to fly less than today, but would constrain aviation emissions growth going forward," he said.
"Such a cap together with deep emissions cuts in other sectors would limit the risk of dangerous climate change and the very damaging consequences for people here and in other countries that this would have."
Without steps to stop growth in aviation emissions, planes could account for as much as a fifth of all CO2 produced worldwide by 2050, the committee warned.
The BBC reports that if aviation fails to reduce its C02 emissions the rest of the economy may have to make deeper cuts of 90% by 2050 - 10% more than currently planned.
The committee said it supported plans to include flying in the EU-wide emissions trading scheme, which would give the aviation industry some carbon credits to cover some of its output and let them purchase allowances from greener companies to make up the shortfall. But in the long term real cuts must be made, rather than rich countries relying on offsetting their emissions by purchasing credits from poorer countries under international trading schemes.
A government spokesman said: "The UK now has the toughest climate change regime for aviation of any country in the world and we will bring international pressure for aviation emissions to be part of global deal on climate change at the Copenhagen conference later this year."
A Greenpeace climate change campaigner, Vicky Wyatt, said any government would find it "almost impossible" to build a third runway at Heathrow if they followed the committee's advice.
[Environment > Climate change]--- reprinted
Japan's new prime minister promises ambitious greenhouse gas cuts
Yukio Hatoyama seeks to reduce CO2 emissions by 25% below 1990 levels by 2020
Justin McCurry in Tokyo
guardian.co.uk, Monday 7 September 2009 13.57 BST Article
Japan's new prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, has promised to make ambitious cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, months before world leaders meet for crucial climate change talks.
Hatoyama, who will take office next week, said Japan would seek to reduce CO2 emissions by 25% below 1990 levels by 2020, but said the target would be contingent on a deal involving all major emitters in Copenhagen in December.
"We can't stop climate change just by setting our own emissions target," he said at a forum in Tokyo. "Our nation will call on major countries around the world to set aggressive goals."
Hatoyama will discuss the initiative, which is far more ambitious than the equivalent 8% cut unveiled by the outgoing government in June, at a UN meeting on climate change in New York this month.
Connie Hedegaard, Denmark's minister for climate and energy, described the plan as a bold step forward. "For a long time, everybody has been waiting for everybody else to move in the negotiations. Japan has taken a bold step forward and set an ambitious target. I hope this will inspire other countries to follow suit."
The commitment places Japan firmly among countries committed to aggressive CO2 emissions cuts, despite mounting opposition from business and industry groups, which claim the measures will put jobs at risk.
"We have concerns about its feasibility in view of the impact on economic activities and employment, as well as the enormousness of the public burden," said Satoshi Aoki, the chairman of the Japan automobile manufacturers' association.
Harufumi Mochizuki, the outgoing vice minister of trade and industry, said Hatoyama had chosen a "very tough road ahead for the Japanese people and economy".
Hatoyama said his plan would create jobs in sectors such as renewables and manufacturing amid an expected rise in demand for solar energy, home renovations and energy-efficient cars and consumer electronics.
"There are cautious people who worry that it will hurt the economy and livelihoods, but I think it will change things for the better," he said.
To help achieve the reduction, Japan will create a domestic emissions trading market and introduce a "feed-in" tariff – financial rewards for industries that expand their use of renewable energy sources.
The Copenhagen talks will be dominated by attempts to persuade China, India and other big emerging economies to sign up to emissions targets.
Kim Carstensen, the head of the WWF's global climate initiative, said: "The decision by an important player such as Japan to do more and get serious about low carbon future can help break the deadlock between developed and developing countries.
"The climate negotiations are at a critical point and we need urgent progress to get a fair, ambitious and binding deal in Copenhagen."
The target brings Japan, the world's fifth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, alongside the EU, which is committed to a 20% cut by 2020 from 1990 levels and 30% if other nations agree to match the target. But it is still at the lower end of the 25-40% cuts recommended by the UN climate change panel.
Hatoyama will have to reconcile his bold initiative with election pledges to eliminate road tolls and petrol surcharges.
As host of the Kyoto summit in 1997, Japan is keen to reposition itself at the forefront of the battle against climate change. Its emissions rose 2.3% in the year to March 2008, putting its 16% above its 2012 Kyoto target.
Yvo de Boer, the head of the UN climate change secretariat, said: "With such a target, Japan will take on the leadership role that industrialised countries have agreed to take in climate change abatement."
[World news > Air transport]
Cost of air travel 'must rise to deter people from flying'
Government advisory body on climate change says ticket prices should rise to ensure emissions fall to 2005 levels
David Batty and Caroline Davies
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 9 September 2009 08.09 BST Article history
The cost of air travel must rise to an extent that it deters people from flying and to compensate developing countries for the damage it does to the environment, according to the government's advisory body on climate change.
Ticket prices should rise to ensure that carbon dioxide emissions from aviation fall back to 2005 levels and to raise tens of billions of pounds in flight taxes to help developing nations adapt to climate change, for example, by building new flood defences, the committee on climate change says.
An agreement to cap aviation emissions must be reached at the UN climate talks in Copenhagen if countries are to meet targets to combat global warming, the committee said in a letter to ministers. Rich countries should take the lead, ensuring their aviation emissions were no higher or lower than they were in 2005 by 2050.
It says airlines should be forced to share the burden of meeting that emissions cut, the Times reports.
In advance of the December meeting in Denmark, the committee says any deal to reduce emissions from flying should be "ambitious", and the aim should be for no less than the EU's current plan, which require a 5% reduction in emissions from 2013 to 2020.
The committee could challenge the government's decision to approve a third runway at Heathrow airport in order to reduce C02 emissions sufficiently to meet that target, according to the paper.
While the cost per passenger of compensating developing countries for climate change would initially be small, it would eventually rise to a level that would deter people from flying.
The average passenger would pay under £10 extra per return ticket when aviation joins the European Union C02 emissions trading scheme in 2012, the Times says.
The scheme will give airlines free carbon permits covering 85% of their emissions but they will have to buy permits for the remaining 15%. The committee on climate change says airlines should have to pay for all their emissions, which would more than double the cost to passengers.
Writing to Lord Adonis, the transport secretary and Ed Miliband, the climate change secretary, the committee's chief executive, David Kennedy, said the measures would not force people to fly less.
"It is vital that an agreement capping global aviation emissions is part of a Copenhagen deal," he said.
"We are calling for a cap that would not require people to fly less than today, but would constrain aviation emissions growth going forward," he said.
"Such a cap together with deep emissions cuts in other sectors would limit the risk of dangerous climate change and the very damaging consequences for people here and in other countries that this would have."
Without steps to stop growth in aviation emissions, planes could account for as much as a fifth of all CO2 produced worldwide by 2050, the committee warned.
The BBC reports that if aviation fails to reduce its C02 emissions the rest of the economy may have to make deeper cuts of 90% by 2050 - 10% more than currently planned.
The committee said it supported plans to include flying in the EU-wide emissions trading scheme, which would give the aviation industry some carbon credits to cover some of its output and let them purchase allowances from greener companies to make up the shortfall. But in the long term real cuts must be made, rather than rich countries relying on offsetting their emissions by purchasing credits from poorer countries under international trading schemes.
A government spokesman said: "The UK now has the toughest climate change regime for aviation of any country in the world and we will bring international pressure for aviation emissions to be part of global deal on climate change at the Copenhagen conference later this year."
A Greenpeace climate change campaigner, Vicky Wyatt, said any government would find it "almost impossible" to build a third runway at Heathrow if they followed the committee's advice.
[Environment > Climate change]--- reprinted
Japan's new prime minister promises ambitious greenhouse gas cuts
Yukio Hatoyama seeks to reduce CO2 emissions by 25% below 1990 levels by 2020
Justin McCurry in Tokyo
guardian.co.uk, Monday 7 September 2009 13.57 BST Article
Japan's new prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, has promised to make ambitious cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, months before world leaders meet for crucial climate change talks.
Hatoyama, who will take office next week, said Japan would seek to reduce CO2 emissions by 25% below 1990 levels by 2020, but said the target would be contingent on a deal involving all major emitters in Copenhagen in December.
"We can't stop climate change just by setting our own emissions target," he said at a forum in Tokyo. "Our nation will call on major countries around the world to set aggressive goals."
Hatoyama will discuss the initiative, which is far more ambitious than the equivalent 8% cut unveiled by the outgoing government in June, at a UN meeting on climate change in New York this month.
Connie Hedegaard, Denmark's minister for climate and energy, described the plan as a bold step forward. "For a long time, everybody has been waiting for everybody else to move in the negotiations. Japan has taken a bold step forward and set an ambitious target. I hope this will inspire other countries to follow suit."
The commitment places Japan firmly among countries committed to aggressive CO2 emissions cuts, despite mounting opposition from business and industry groups, which claim the measures will put jobs at risk.
"We have concerns about its feasibility in view of the impact on economic activities and employment, as well as the enormousness of the public burden," said Satoshi Aoki, the chairman of the Japan automobile manufacturers' association.
Harufumi Mochizuki, the outgoing vice minister of trade and industry, said Hatoyama had chosen a "very tough road ahead for the Japanese people and economy".
Hatoyama said his plan would create jobs in sectors such as renewables and manufacturing amid an expected rise in demand for solar energy, home renovations and energy-efficient cars and consumer electronics.
"There are cautious people who worry that it will hurt the economy and livelihoods, but I think it will change things for the better," he said.
To help achieve the reduction, Japan will create a domestic emissions trading market and introduce a "feed-in" tariff – financial rewards for industries that expand their use of renewable energy sources.
The Copenhagen talks will be dominated by attempts to persuade China, India and other big emerging economies to sign up to emissions targets.
Kim Carstensen, the head of the WWF's global climate initiative, said: "The decision by an important player such as Japan to do more and get serious about low carbon future can help break the deadlock between developed and developing countries.
"The climate negotiations are at a critical point and we need urgent progress to get a fair, ambitious and binding deal in Copenhagen."
The target brings Japan, the world's fifth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, alongside the EU, which is committed to a 20% cut by 2020 from 1990 levels and 30% if other nations agree to match the target. But it is still at the lower end of the 25-40% cuts recommended by the UN climate change panel.
Hatoyama will have to reconcile his bold initiative with election pledges to eliminate road tolls and petrol surcharges.
As host of the Kyoto summit in 1997, Japan is keen to reposition itself at the forefront of the battle against climate change. Its emissions rose 2.3% in the year to March 2008, putting its 16% above its 2012 Kyoto target.
Yvo de Boer, the head of the UN climate change secretariat, said: "With such a target, Japan will take on the leadership role that industrialised countries have agreed to take in climate change abatement."
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