Climate Change


Aviation's climate change impact is relatively small but growing:

  • it is currently responsible for about 5% of the UK's total CO2 emissions.
  • 1.6% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
  • the IPCC's central case estimate is that aviation will account for 5% of the global human contribution to climate change in 2050 (including aviation's non-CO2 impacts).
It has been suggested that the environmental costs of Heathrow outweigh its economic benefits but if capacity at Heathrow continues to be constrained, foreign hubs such as Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Paris will grow instead. This will not provide any climate change benefits but would severely damage the UK's global competitiveness and UK jobs.

Emissions from flights are being addressed in several different ways:

  • Technological advances
    Aircraft are becoming more fuel efficient - currently improving by about 1-2% a year. However, global aviation is predicted to grow more quickly than this. Renewable biofuels and fuel cells may be another way of reducing greenhouse gases.

  • Airspace management
    Around six million tonnes of CO2 have already been saved by shortening existing air routes and BAA is pushing for a unified system of air traffic management within the EU. This could cut Europe's aviation CO2 emissions by 12%.

  • Taxes and charges
    The main tax on flying is currently Air Passenger Duty. This may reduce demand for air travel but the money raised doesn't go towards addressing environmental impacts or incentivising clean technology.

  • Emissions Trading
    By the time a third runway would be operational in 2020, aviation will be included in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme. This means that if airlines want to fly more, they will have to cut their own emissions or pay for someone else to do so. The important point is that carbon emissions will be capped at 2005 levels and any carbon emissions from a third runway at Heathrow would have to operate within this cap.

You can find out more about Heathrow and Climate change by downloading this document.