Is the Covid-19 crisis the catalyst for greening
the world's airlines?
Aviation is struggling and seeking support, but there
are demands for it to give something in return
Jonathan
Watts
@jonathanwatts
Published
onSun 17 May 2020 15.26 BST
“The
political moment is now” to address the climate risks posed by the aviation
industry, analysts, insiders and campaigners say, as governments across the
world weigh up bailouts for airlines grounded by the coronavirus pandemic.
Rescue
packages need to come with green strings, such as reduced carbon footprints and
frequent flyer levies, they warn, or the sector will return to the path that
has made it the fastest rising source of climate-wrecking carbon emissions over
the past decade.
Old
passenger jets also need to be rapidly retired or cheap oil prices will
encourage budget airlines to run services almost empty, which could push up
emissions even if passenger numbers stay low, they say.
As did
banks after the 2008-9 financial crisis, many aviation companies are appealing
for government support to escape from a problem they partly caused. The
expansion of flight networks, packed seating and a reluctance to accept
quarantine measures have contributed to the rapid transmission of the Covid-19
virus across the globe.
Until the
pandemic, governments were so focused on keeping airlines globally competitive
that they largely gave the sector a free ride in terms of emissions cuts and
contributions to public revenues. Aviation fuel is completely untaxed in most
countries.
But the
crisis has weakened airline claims that they should be treated as
profit-seeking independent companies rather than public entities with social
responsibilities.
Thousands
of planes have been grounded for two months. Even if the lockdown is lifted
soon, the industry expects revenues to halve this year. Many airlines are now
begging for taxpayer support.
European
governments have agreed €12.7bn (£11.35bn) in bailouts, with another €17.1bn
under discussion, according to a tracker compiled by Carbon Market Watch,
Greenpeace and Transport & Environment. The US approved $25bn (£20.6bn)
support for the industry in April.
If public
funds are used to save companies, there is a growing argument that society
should get something in return in terms of environmental improvements.
Hopes were
raised when the French finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, said Air France would
have to become “the greenest airline in the world” in return for a €7bn
bailout. This meant reducing the carbon intensity of their overall operations
by 50% by 2030, cutting absolute emissions within France by half by 2030, using
2% renewable jet fuel by 2024 and drastically reducing the number of flights of
less than 2hr 30mins duration that compete with rail services.
Although
these conditions are currently non-binding, campaigners said they were hopeful
they will be supported by new laws in the coming years.
Andrew
Murphy, an aviation policy officer at the NGO Transport & Environment, said
this could be a turning point after decades of inaction.
“Before the
Covid crisis, aviation emissions were going in the wrong direction. This is a
moment that has shaken up the industry and raised questions about subsidies,
tax breaks, and frequent flying. It is an opportunity for governments to think
how they support the airline industry.”
He said he
was also encouraged the UK has not yet committed public funds to bail out
airlines, which would gives them the incentive to put planes back in the sky
too soon. A more important step, he said, would be for government to include
aviation emissions in their climate targets. “It’s not sexy, but it’s very
important,” he said. “Without this, nations’ climate calculations are based on
dodgy accounting, as Greta [Thunberg] pointed out when she was in the UK last
year.”
Some
environmentalists such as George Monbiot argue airlines should not be rescued.
This is echoed by Extinction Rebellion. “With 90% of UK planes grounded, and knowing
we need to halt polluting industries, there can be no justification for the
government to financially support restarting flights. Let’s embed this change
rather than bail out this destructive industry and its tax-avoiding owners,”
the group’s UK spokesperson, Sarah Lunnon, said.
Other
climate campaign organisations, including Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace,
say bailouts are only acceptable if they come with green conditions. They say
airline companies should pay a fair share of taxes and not rely on offsets to
reduce emissions, as they are currently doing.
Among the
measures they propose are fuel taxes on domestic flights (which are currently
tax free) and the introduction of a frequent flier levy. In the UK, 15% of
people take 70% of flights. Globally, only 3% of the world’s 7.6bn population
flies frequently.
“If
governments want to address the twin challenges of Covid and climate change,
the political moment is now,” says Dan Rutherford, aviation director at the
International Council on Clean Transportation. “Policies to curb frequent
flying could benefit both public health and the global environment.”
He said
passengers should also be given information about the carbon costs of their
flights, which would allow them to support more efficient airlines. The
difference between companies can be as much as 80% on the same city-to-city
flight depending on the type of aircraft, load factors and routes.
Even before
the pandemic, the airline industry was feeling public pressure from “the Greta
effect”, direct action by Extinction Rebellion and the high court decision to
block Heathrow expansion because it posed unacceptable climate risks.
The
Heathrow chief executive, John Holland-Kaye, said the UK should build back
better after the Covid-19 crisis. “The government can accelerate the
decarbonisation of aviation, by helping to scale up new energy sources, such as
sustainable aviation fuels, just as they did successfully for solar and wind.
Any company that is bailed out by the government should commit to net-zero
emissions well before 2050.”
Passenger
numbers at the UK’s largest airport fell by 97% in April, prompting hundreds of
job losses and fears of many more to follow. British Airways and its parent
company AIG did not respond to the Guardian’s request for a comment about their
willingness to accept tighter controls on emissions.
The UK
chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has said he will not treat the aviation industry as a
special case, but might consider bailouts on a case-by-case basis.
Green party
politicians say a clearer position is necessary to help workers in the sector
to transition to other jobs.
“Whilst a
reduction in flying will have a tremendously positive impact on the
environment, we need to ensure jobs are created elsewhere for those currently
working in the aviation industry,” the Brighton mayor, Alex Phillips, said.
“This could mean, for example, that workers are either offered the opportunity
to retire in dignity or to retrain in new sectors – whether they be in
zero-emission transport or low carbon jobs that we are in need of both now and
in the future.”
The issue
is likely to linger long after the lockdown. The International Air Transport
Association says demand for air travel will not recover until 2023 at the
earliest.
Eight steps
towards a cleaner aviation sector
Reduce
flights. Demand is unlikely to recover for at least three years so the simplest
way to reduce aviation emissions is to have fewer planes in the air.
Tax
aviation fuel. Initially just for domestic flights so they do not have an
unfair advantage against low-emission rail services. Air France has been told
it cannot have a bailout unless it phases out flights that compete with train
journeys of 2hr 30mins or less. This should later be widened to international
flights, which are responsible for 90% of airline emissions in Europe..
Introduce a
frequent flyer levy. In the UK, 15% of people take 70% of flights. Globally,
only 3% of the world’s 7.8bn population flies frequently. Increasing costs for
them would make a bigger difference than asking people to end their annual
overseas holiday.
Provide
transparent data on carbon emissions of flights so customers can avoid less
efficient airlines. Few people are currently aware of the data, but the
difference can be as much as 80% on the same city-to-city flight depending on
the type of aircraft, load factors and routes.
Incorporate
the aviation sector into national climate targets. Currently the UK’s Climate
Change Act only mentions airlines rather than making them part of the country’s
emissions calculations, which Thunberg described last year as “extremely
creative accounting”.
Reduce
fleet sizes by scrapping old, gas-guzzling planes. This would also reduce the
risk that low petrol prices will prompt budget airlines to rent cheap planes
and run them almost empty, which would keep them in business but increase
emissions per passenger.
Halt
airport expansion. Campaigners won an important victory in February when the
high court ruled against Heathrow expansion due to the climate risks. But many
other airports plan to open new terminals and runways in the UK and elsewhere
in the world.
Invest in
green fuel and tech. The French government has said Air France must use
alternatives to fossil fuels for at least 2% of flights by 2024. Norway is
pioneering electric planes and biofuel from waste products. Heathrow says the
UK government should also promote cleaner fuel.
This
article is more than 2 months old
Financial help for airlines 'should come with
strict climate conditions'
Former EU climate chief Miguel Arias Cañete fears end
of Covid-19 will bring higher carbon emissions
Fiona
Harvey Environment correspondent
Wed 1 Apr
2020 11.00 BSTLast modified on Wed 1 Apr 2020 20.10 BST
Financial
help from taxpayers to airlines hit by the coronavirus crisis must come with
strict conditions on their future climate impact, the former EU climate
commissioner and a group of green campaigners have said.
“It must be
conditional, otherwise when we recover we will see the same or higher levels of
carbon dioxide [from flying],” said Miguel Arias Cañete, the EU climate
commissioner who led the bloc to the Paris agreement, in an interview with the
Guardian. “We know the level of emissions we have to commit to [under Paris].
They [airlines] are worried about survival and will need lots of support, lots
of liquidity – that gives them a big responsibility.”
A group of
26 civil society groups in the UK have written to the chancellor, Rishi Sunak,
demanding “stringent conditions” on any rescue, including strict targets on
greenhouse gases in line with the Paris agreement and measures to help workers.
“Public money must be used to address social and environmental priorities, as
well as economic needs,” they wrote.
Aviation
has all but ceased in some countries and flights are vastly down in most
others, owing to the lockdowns and other suppression measures. Airlines have
been appealing to governments for bailouts as fleets have been grounded.
But
campaigners and experts fear that after the Covid-19 outbreak has waned, the
sector could bounce back with the aid of public money and send emissions
soaring.
In their
letter to the chancellor, the campaigners – including Greenpeace, Flight Free,
the IPPR and New Economics Foundation thinktanks, and Tax Justice – call for
the government to take equity stakes in airlines rather than handing out cash
or loans. They want to see social benefits with workers’ rights enforced,
including a living wage and no mass redundancies a condition of any rescue. In
the longer term, they want to see support for a “just transition” for workers
to move to jobs in lower carbon industries.
They also
want a new fiscal regime that includes a frequent flyer levy or air miles levy,
replacing air passenger duty, which would reduce demand without removing access
to flights from those with limited alternatives or limited resources, by
shifting the tax burden to frequent leisure flyers. About half of people in the
UK do not fly in any given year, but 1% of people take a fifth of all flights.
Rebecca
Newsom, head of political affairs at Greenpeace UK, said: “Emergency funding
must be used to tackle emergencies, not to support business as usual.
Conditions are needed to protect workers’ rights, prevent public money from
being diverted into the pockets of shareholders, and reduce demand gradually
over time through a frequent flier levy, so that the sector operates within
safe limits for the climate.”
Attaching
conditions to any bailout could take several forms. Cañete wants to see a
carbon tax or emissions trading system such as the one operating under the EU.
“Market mechanisms are needed,” he said.
Airlines
UK, a trade body, said the industry was already taking steps to reduce their
environmental impact before the coronavirus crisis hit. “The UK aviation sector
has already committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 – the only
national aviation industry to do so,” said a spokesperson. “This will be
achieved via a range of measures, including airspace modernisation, the
development and commercialisation of sustainable aviation fuels, new cleaner
planes, and the UN carbon offsetting scheme Corsia.”
Airlines
face difficult choices ahead. More efficient aircraft will help to reduce
emissions, but the impact will be limited. Biofuels offer a possible answer,
but they are still expensive and there are difficulties in ensuring that the
sources are environmentally sustainable. Electric planes are still some way in
the future, and solar-powered flight a distant dream.
“We need to
stimulate research and development into things like hydrogen fuel,” said
Barbara Buchner, managing director of the Climate Policy Initiative. “We need
more proactive thinking from airlines – they can’t imagine we will go back to
the way they were before.”
The
coronavirus disruption may also bring about permanent changes in people’s
habits, some experts hope. Business flying has stopped meetings from happening,
but people have found ways to work with video conferencing and other cheap
technology, forcing businesses to question whether their staff need to fly as
much in future.
EU eyes ways to attach green strings to airline
bailouts
Calls for an EU-wide kerosene tax grow as airlines
receive state rescues
Brussels faces calls to attach stringent climate goals
on airlines receiving bailout money
Mehreen
Khan, EU correspondent APRIL 29 2020
Europe’s
governments are throwing billions of euros at their devastated airlines: Air
France-KLM will get at least €9bn in taxpayer money from the French and Dutch
governments; Lufthansa is currently embroiled in talks with Germany about how
much control it should cede to Berlin in return for an aid package.
So as
governments move to prop up grounded carriers, thoughts have turned to what
taxpayers should demand in return.
With the
political wind shifting on climate change, officials in Brussels are hoping the
crisis is a way to finally get polluting airlines to get serious about the
green transition. “For years the airline industry was supreme and resisted calls
to reduce emissions. Now they are coming cap in hand to ask for help and we
can’t waste this chance,” said a senior EU official.
Early on in
the pandemic, the commission relaxed its state aid rules to allow governments
to pump cash into flailing businesses. But Brussels is now under pressure to
approve cash injections only if companies can prove their business models are
compliant with global climate goals like the Paris Agreement.
Pascal
Canfin, a French MEP and head of the European Parliament’s environment
committee, wants Brussels to draw up “green transition pacts” for airlines
receiving public money. If they fail to make commitments within six months —
like investing in low polluting fuels or replacing polluting short-haul flights
— the cash should be paid back and the companies sanctioned, said Mr Canfin.
“Just as
companies who benefit from state aid and exceptional tax relief and who are
found to have paid dividends to shareholders are forced to repay the money and
get a penalty, the same could apply to companies who get state aid, but in the
six months following this, have not signed a green transition pact,” he said.
For all the
pressure, holding airlines’ feet to the fire is easier said than done. EU
transport commissioner Adina Valean told MEPs on Tuesday that although green
targets were well and good after the crisis, the point of the emergency state
aid was to ensure that “companies can survive”.
Unlike
other industries such as cars — where Brussels has wielded its regulatory clout
with tough emissions targets — the EU has limited tools to get aviation to bow
to green targets. At most, airlines are subject to the EU’s emissions trading
scheme, which sets a market price on carbon for polluters.
With
governments now forking out billions in bailouts, political pressure for a
kerosene tax is also growing. Before the crisis hit, the likes of Frans
Timmermans, commissioner in charge of the green deal, came out in favour of a
kerosene tax that would specifically target airline emissions. Brussels is
planning a review of its sensitive energy taxation directive next year in the
hope that it could pave the way for an EU-wide airline levy.
“There is a
certain paradox in the fact that big airline companies profit from a tax
exemption and yet will receive a large sum of public money to help them in
times of crisis,” said Mr Canfin. “The subject of the kerosene tax will surely
come back on the table.”
This article is more than 1 year old
‘Ryanair is the new coal’: airline enters EU’s
top 10 emitters list
Irish firm joins nine coal plants on list, with carbon
emissions up nearly 50% in last five years
Ryanair’s chief executive, Michael O’Leary, previously
dismissed climate change concerns as ‘complete and utter rubbish’.
Ryanair has become the first non-coal company to join
Europe’s top 10 carbon emitters, according to EU figures
Arthur
Neslen
Mon 1 Apr
2019 18.00 BSTLast modified on Tue 2 Apr 2019 10.09 BST
The Irish
airline, which transports 130 million people a year, declared 9.9 megatonnes of
greenhouse gas emissions in 2018, up 6.9% on last year and 49% over the last
five years, according to data in the EU’s latest emissions trading system
registry.
Andrew
Murphy, the aviation manager at the European Federation for Transport and
Environment, said: “When it comes to climate, Ryanair is the new coal. This
trend will only continue until Europe realises that this undertaxed and
under-regulated sector needs to be brought into line, starting with a tax on
kerosene and the introduction of mandates that force airlines to switch to
zero-emission jet fuel.”
Ryanair’s
chief executive, Michael O’Leary, dismissed climate change concerns as
“complete and utter rubbish” in an interview two years ago. His airline is now
ranked as Europe’s 10th worst emitter, after nine coal plants. Poland’s
Bełchatów is the worst polluter, producing 38 megatonnes of planet-warming
emissions annually.
Coal
emissions are falling, though, as Europe’s transition to cleaner energy
continues. In stark contrast, emissions from airlines, which are exempted from
fuel taxes and VAT on tickets, have soared by 26.3% since 2014, outpacing all
other transport sectors.
EasyJet was
Europe’s next worst-performing airline, in 31st place on the list, after an 11%
rise in emissions in 2018. It was followed by Lufthansa, Norwegian and British
Airways, according to analysis of the EU data by the thinktank Sandbag and
Transport and Environment.
Aviation is
responsible for about 3% of Europe’s greenhouse gas emissions, but industry
forecasts suggest this could rise by up to 700% by 2050 as the sector grows.
Murphy
described aviation as “Europe’s biggest climate failure”. Europe’s airlines pay
about €800m (£680m) a year for their rights to pollute. But some studies
suggest this sum is eclipsed by the €27bn they would have to stump up if their
fuel tax and VAT exemptions were ended.
Despite
increased attention from policymakers, the sector receives up to 85% of its EU
emissions trading allowances free, with Ryanair consequently saving €96.6m in
2018.
Kevin
Anderson, a professor of energy and climate change at the University of Manchester,
said: “Ryanair use new and efficient aircraft rammed to the rafters with
passengers, illustrating how technology alone cannot reconcile aviation’s
rocketing emissions with the Paris climate commitments.
“If we
genuinely care for our children’s futures, we need to drive down the demand for
aviation. This will require stringent regulations focusing on frequent fliers
rather than those taking the occasional trip.”
A Ryanair
spokesperson said: “Ryanair is Europe’s greenest and cleanest airline. Passengers
travelling on Ryanair have the lowest CO2 emissions per km travelled than any
other airline.”
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