The Climate Change Committee (CCC) has published its seventh carbon budget, with the target being to reduce emissions by 87 per cent compared to 1990 by 2040.
Under the seventh Balanced Pathway, CCC estimates that aviation emissions can fall by 17 per cent, relative to 2023, by 2040, by adopting sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and electric/hybrid-electric aircraft, improving operational efficiencies, managing growth in aviation demand, and paying for engineered removals to offset residual emissions.
The report highlights the aviation industry as the UK’s highest emitting sector and urges the industry to take responsibility for these emissions and aid the cost of sustainable initiatives by increasing the cost to fly. Equally, CCC has suggested partnerships with other countries in order to advance net zero goals, referencing the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and its Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), as key to achieving these goals.
Additionally, it warns that non-CO2 emissions need to be considered for their warming effects, which are expected to be 19 per cent above 2025 levels by 2050.
Karen Dee, chief executive of AirportsUK, released the following statement in response to the budget:
“We are pleased the CCC has recognised the work being done by the sector to decarbonise and the role this will play in enabling sustainable expansion at our airports. We’ll continue working with the committee as it refines its positions and assumptions on passenger numbers, the impact of the SAF mandate and other policy measures that are coming on stream. In the meantime, airports are committed to delivering sustainable economic growth, as outlined by the chancellor in her Oxford speech last month, and to creating new jobs, bringing in new investment, and driving new regional opportunities.”
