Transport & Environment’s (T&E) response to the questions posed by the Civil Aviation Authority’s call for evidence on consumer environmental information
This paper is Transport & Environment’s (T&E) response to the questions posed by the Civil Aviation Authority’s call for evidence on consumer environmental information. T&E is Europe’s leading clean transport think tank and campaigning group. It was created over 30 years ago and now has staff in 6 countries, with 63 member organisations across 24 countries. It has had a UK office since 2019, working directly with partners and supporting policy-makers with evidence-based solutions to decarbonise UK transport. At the international level, T&E coordinates the International Coalition for Sustainable Aviation, which has observer status at the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). At the UK level, it is an active member of the Jet Zero Council’s SAF Delivery and Commercialisation groups.
In 2019, carbon emissions from UK aviation were over 220% of 1990 levels. This is in direct contrast to overall emissions from the UK as a whole, which were 67% of 1990 levels. Furthermore, despite the pandemic it is widely anticipated that they will be back above 2019 levels soon. A lot of the reason for this lack of decarbonisation progress is the lack of environmental regulation on the industry. Providing consumers with the climate impact of their choices is a simple tool that is already used in other sectors.
The following high level points should be applied to any environmental consumer information:
Finally, whilst outside the scope of this consultation, consideration should be given to requiring airlines to provide information on the climate impact of flights in any promotional material, akin to how car manufacturers are required to.
Lessons from EU funding in Central and Eastern European countries
Is the aviation sector ready to transition to sustainable jet fuel?
Half the airlines in the ranking score zero for their lack of uptake of sustainable aviation fuels.