Beautiful Planet > Press Release EMBARGOED till 00.01 hours Monday June 18 2007

For further information or interviews contact Keith Bill on 020 8656 0860 or mobile 07968 528 527. Electronic version of full report available by clicking here.

NEW REPORT CHALLENGES MYTHS ABOUT IMPACT OF AVIATION ON THE ENVIRONMENT

• Air travel has become a scapegoat for global warming
• Long distance high speed trains more polluting than planes
• European ships emit more carbon dioxide than European planes
• Air passengers should 'stop feeling guilty'

Today, Monday June 18, the British Airline Pilots' Association (BALPA) will present to the British Government research which 'challenges the myth that air transport is the major cause of growing carbon dioxide emissions.'

The research report - 'Aviation and the Environment ' - examines the true impact of aviation on the environment and 'deals with the half truths and untruths' told by those who attack air travel and make passengers feel guilty about taking a flight.

'We were determined at the outset to concern ourselves only with the facts, and what is clear is that aviation has become a scapegoat for global warming,' said Captain Mervyn Granshaw, Chairman of BALPA which has in its membership 85% of Britain's 10,000 airline pilots.

'BALPA accepts the world has a problem, we do not number ourselves among the sceptics. Something certainly has to be done about the rising level of carbon dioxide emissions and we will play our part,' he said. ' But we cannot accept the false accusations our study exposes.'

The report will show, for example, that while it is true that trains are less polluting than aircraft per passenger per kilometer that is not true of long journeys over 800 kilometers and it is not true of the new generation of high speed trains in use on mainland Europe and soon to come to Britain.

And the European Commission says that EU flagged ships are fast becoming the biggest source of air pollution. In the year 2000, the Commission says, EU flagged ships emitted almost 200 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, significantly more than from EU aircraft.

'Yet no-one is calling for restrictions on high speed train travel or for an end to ocean cruises,' Captain Granshaw said. 'And no-one is calling for any dramatic cutback in car travel, the biggest polluter of all transport modes. In the UK we are embarked on another major road building programme.

'Air travel has just been an easy target. But not any more.'

World air travel actually accounts for only 2% to 3% of global carbon dioxide emissions according to the International Panel on Climate Change and while air travel is proving more popular, carbon dioxide emissions will not be more than 6% by 2050 - a tiny amount compared to the big polluters.

Captain Granshaw added: 'Our report clearly shows that technological advances now being researched will cut aircraft emissions still further. It would be inappropriate therefore, and premature, to restrict air transport at this time. The damage that would be done not only to our industry but to tourism and to the economies of developing nations would be enormous.

'Our message to all air passengers is to stop feeling guilty about flying. Passengers going by high speed train to the south of France would be responsible for emitting more carbon dioxide than if they had flown there.

'We are now going to debunk the myths about air travel and spell out the facts. We are presenting our report not only to Government, to scientists, politicians and European institutions but to environmental lobbyists like Friends of the Earth because we want feedback, and hopefully we can move to a consensus. This is too important an issue to be reduced to the slogans that some campaigners and politicians have been using.'

Editor's notes:

1. Electronic versions of the full report AND of the summary of the report are available. Contact Keith Bill by email (keithbill@hotmail.com) or call him on 020 8656 0860 (leave message if not there) or on mobile 07968 528 527.

2. Emissions of carbon dioxide and hyrocarbons have already been cut by 50% and 90% respectively. Smoke and particulates have been virtually eliminated from modern aircraft and nitrous oxides from aircraft engines have been cut in half over the last 15 years. More dramatic improvements are coming on-stream which will further cuts in fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.

3. Road transport carbon dioxide emissions in the UK in the 15 year period 1990 to 2005 increased by 11 million tonnes - from 109 to 120 million tonnes of carbon. That increase alone - just the increase - is more than the total carbon dioxide emissions from aircraft in the UK today (10 million tonnes).

4. On the personal level, household emissions of carbon dioxide in the UK are around 11 tonnes per person per year. A flight from London to Barcelona emits some 0.12 tonnes of carbon dioxide per person. Making savings in the home can easily make possible holidays without any increase in an individual's 'carbon footprint.'