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The new secretary of state for energy and climate change, Ed Miliband, has declared that the UK would be the first country in the world to commit to legally binding cuts in its greenhouse gas emissions.

The Climate Change Bill has committed the UK to cutting greenhouse gases by 80 per cent by 2050, but this target discounted aeroplane emissions. Green campaigners objected to the hypocrisy and opposed the bill.

An amendment, to include aviation in the target, was backed by the Liberal Democrats, the Conservatives and had enough Labour backbench support to go forward. Now, the government has put forward the new strengthening of the Climate Change Bill to keep the environmental campaigners happy.

Over 50 Labour MPs have backed the move, but it is unclear what this will mean in practise, whether the targets for aviation are statutory or voluntary. The amendment seeks equivalent cuts in emissions elsewhere to compensate for any rise from the aviation industry.
The amendment was put down by Labour MP Elliot Morley, and takes aviation into account to meet the target.

There is no agreed method to calculate emissions for international aviation to specific countries, but these emissions will be taken into account and means the Climate Change Bill will now produce greater overall cuts in emissions.

Ed Miliband said he accepted recommendations from the government’s advisory committee on climate change, headed by Lord Turner, that the sector must figure in climate change targets. Otherwise it would be like going on a strict diet but giving special dispensation to chocolate.

Green Party leader Caroline Lucas said the move would suggest that ministers were “starting to take their environmental responsibilities seriously”. But she said the government’s emission record was poor and that it needed to prevent future airport expansion around London if it was serious about meeting the targets.

The trend of cheap airlines like Easy Jet and Ryan Air, along with the expansion of Stanstead airport has created serious questions about the UK’s sincerity to follow through with its environmental commitments.

The Climate Change Bill, being given its third reading in the Commons, would require the government to publish carbon budgets every five years and enable carbon trading schemes. The government do appear to be dragging their feet a little, and previous environmental commitments have been ignored in the past.

Meanwhile, airlines still don’t pay tax on the fuel they use. When European governments tried to slap a tax on aviation fuel in 2005, the industry warned that a third of European airlines would be out of business in a year.

John McE writes articles on a number of subjects including the environment in business. For more about corporate social responsibility visit Environment In Business.