AEF insists UK government must ensure the delivery of net-zero commitments

Following Sustainable Aviation’s publication of its carbon roadmap, the Aviation Environment Federation (AEF) has argued that the UK government must now work to ensure that the industry delivers on its commitments.

The Sustainable Aviation carbon roadmap commits the UK industry to net-zero emissions by 2050. The industry has set the right level of ambition based on the Committee on Climate Change’s (CCC’s) advice provided in 2019, but AEF insists that efforts must be made to make sure the industry is working to achieve the target.

Tim Johnson, Director of the Aviation Environment Federation, said: “The aviation industry likes to set targets, but so far has successfully resisted being held to account for delivering them. To make sure this net-zero goal translates into action, UK aviation and aerospace companies should now support the CCC’s recommendation to government that it should legislate to include international aviation emissions in the UK’s net-zero law.”

Even with the development of new technologies and fuels, the aviation industry is set to be the largest carbon emitting sector in the UK by 2050. The Sustainable Aviation carbon roadmap relies on offsets and greenhouse gas removals to close this gap, placing heavy reliance on the improvement of technologies which are costly and largely unproven.

However, the Committee on Climate Change has already advised government that its net-zero target should not be met through the use of international offset credits.

Johnson continued: “The roadmap should not give the industry a green light to grow without a government plan in place to limit emissions. To date, industry goals have failed to prevent absolute aviation emissions from increasing.”