Be carbon-free

Be carbon-free by Kate Hardie

The aviation sector is the world’s fastest-growing man-made source of carbon dioxide and is a major cause of global warming. Compared to other types of pollutants such as cars, aviation is more dangerous because the carbon dioxide enters the o-zone layer right away, causing more damage. We should use planes less, but millions of people find budget airlines to be cheap and useful, and so end up travelling a lot more. It makes no sense environmentally for it to be cheaper to fly from London to Munich than to go by train. We should decrease the number of cheap flights and encourage people to travel by train as well as to choose holiday destinations closer to home. There should be governmental regulations, such as increasing aviation fuel tax. People in the USA and Europe fly the most; they should pay more for the pollution they are causing.

 

Dr Ian Taylor, Aviation Studies Commissioner

Although people complain about the environmental problems caused by air travel these days, it actually makes up less than 5% of carbon dioxide emissions. Having higher taxes won’t solve the problem. If prices increase, only wealthy people will be able to travel – which is not fair. More travel leads to more tourism, which creates millions of jobs all around the world. These jobs are especially important in developing countries, many of which don’t have many different sources of income. If air travel is reduced, there will be massive global unemployment which would hit poorer countries the most. We are designing planes to be more energy-efficient and promoting fuller flights with shorter routes. People can also make their flights ‘carbon neutral’ by offsetting the amount of carbon dioxide. This means you pay more to support initiatives such as planting trees, or energy-saving projects that reduce carbon emissions which cancel out the amount of carbon that your flight produces. It is everyone’s right to travel and explore the world.