El presidente del Gobierno anunció hace unos días, en el marco de Fitur, una inversión de 2.400 millones de euros para la ampliación del aeropuerto de Barajas, asegurando para 2031 un aumento de capacidad del 28%, para así alcanzar los 90 millones de pasajeros anuales. Su coaligado, Sumar, lo considera un despropósito: afloran, de nuevo, discrepancias profundas sobre cómo alcanzar la neutralidad climática para 2050. Pero hay más. La coalición había incluido en el Plan de Recuperación una medida para aplicar, a partir de 2024, peajes en las autovías, bajo el principio de «quien contamina paga», y posteriormente lo cambió por el fomento del ferrocarril, que hoy solo representa el 1,5% del transporte de mercancías y cuyo aumento no se puede improvisar de la noche a la mañana.… Seguir leyendo »
En 2021 se aprobó la ley europea del clima bajo el pleno convencimiento de que es necesario actuar de manera urgente para preservar el futuro de nuestras próximas generaciones. Esta ley implica que combatir el cambio climático deja de ser un compromiso para convertirse en obligación legal. Y fija el 2050 como plazo para alcanzar la neutralidad climática, es decir, cero emisiones netas de gases de efecto invernadero.
Como meta intermedia para ayudar a alcanzar este objetivo tan ambicioso, las emisiones de la Unión Europea deberán haberse reducido en 2030 al menos un 55 % respecto a 1990. Para ello, se han propuesto un conjunto de actuaciones sobre el clima y la energía recogidas en el denominado paquete Objetivo 55.… Seguir leyendo »
Earlier this month, U.K. climate activists demonstrated against the planned expansion of 10 airports in what was the largest anti-airport protest in British history. The U.K. government had recently rejected one of its own agencies’ scientific advice, which said that expanding airports in London, Glasgow, Southampton and elsewhere would conflict with the government’s net-zero climate goals. In the report, titled “Net Zero: Principles for Successful Behaviour Change Initiatives”, the agency recommended reducing demand for high-carbon activities such as air transport.
U.K. protesters aren’t alone. Over the past couple of decades, there’s been a worldwide increase in local anti-airport movements, motivated both by global climate concerns and by local worries about issues such as water pollution and displacing poor or minority communities.… Seguir leyendo »
Las recientes inundaciones catastróficas en Alemania y China han vuelto a dejar en claro, una vez más, la terrible amenaza mundial que genera el cambio climático. Como respuesta ante esta amenaza, debemos invertir en el fortalecimiento de nuestra resiliencia frente a los fenómenos meteorológicos extremos, y acelerar las reducciones de las emisiones de dióxido de carbono para limitar el nivel en el que empeorará dicha amenaza en el futuro.
Un día antes de que las inundaciones afectaran a Alemania el mes pasado, la Unión Europea delineó políticas para reducir las emisiones en un 55%, con respecto a los niveles de 1990, hasta el año 2030.… Seguir leyendo »
A medida que el mundo se vuelve más interconectado va creciendo la demanda de transporte aéreo; se espera que en los próximos años entren en funcionamiento más de 30.000 nuevas aeronaves. Pero para que este aumento se sostenga sin agravar el calentamiento global, debemos reducir rápidamente las emisiones de CO2 del sector aéreo, que son considerables y no están cubiertas por el acuerdo climático de París, firmado en diciembre pasado por más de 190 países.
Afortunadamente, hoy es el momento perfecto para ir deshaciendo el vínculo entre las emisiones de la aviación y el aumento del transporte aéreo. Tras décadas de negociaciones, los representantes de 191 países reunidos en Montreal esta semana para la Sesión 39 de la Organización de Aviación Civil Internacional (OACI) de las Naciones Unidas, han llegado a consenso para un acuerdo climático específico del sector aeronáutico.… Seguir leyendo »
Lors de la COP21, les dirigeants du monde entier ont scellé, le 12 décembre 2015, un accord historique pour sauver le climat. Ils se sont engagés « à contenir l’élévation de la température moyenne de la planète nettement en dessous de 2 °C par rapport aux niveaux préindustriels », selon la formule désormais célèbre.
Quatre mois plus tard, le 22 avril 2016, ils se sont donné rendez-vous au siège des Nations unies à New York pour signer l’accord de Paris, qui ouvre la voie à une ratification par les Etats membres… Chacun a pu penser, à ce moment-là, que les acquis de la COP21 étaient sur les rails.… Seguir leyendo »
Afin de réduire les émissions de gaz à effet de serre (GES), l’Union européenne a créé le Système communautaire d’échange des quotas d’émission (SCEQE), un mécanisme prévu par le Protocole de Kyoto. Sa mise en œuvre se fait en phases échelonnées de 2005 à 2013.
En 2008, l’UE a adopté une directive intégrant le trafic aérien à ce système. Ainsi, depuis le 1er janvier 2012, toutes les compagnies aériennes qui opèrent en Europe sont tenues de racheter l’équivalent de 15% de leurs émissions de CO2 dans le cadre du SCEQE.
Cette décision a provoqué de vives réactions de compagnies aériennes et d’Etats étrangers:
– le Congrès américain a voté un projet de loi interdisant aux compagnies aériennes américaines de se conformer à la nouvelle réglementation;
– des compagnies aériennes basées aux Etats-Unis et au Canada ont déposé un recours auprès de la Cour de justice de l’UE.… Seguir leyendo »
L'aviation internationale est-elle une partie du problème du changement climatique ? Oui. Doit-elle contribuer à l'effort collectif nécessaire pour le résoudre ? Assurément.
Une partie du problème : selon le Groupe d'experts intergouvernemental sur l'évolution du climat (GIEC), qui fait autorité, la part de l'aviation dans les émissions mondiales de CO2 d'origine humaine est d'environ 2 % (à comparer aux 16 % de l'ensemble des autres moyens de transport). Mais si rien n'était fait, cette part progresserait mécaniquement. Aussi, l'aviation internationale entend-elle assumer ses responsabilités.
Un consensus mondial s'est dégagé, au sein de l'International Air Transport Aviation (IATA), pour que l'ensemble du transport aérien international réduise de façon significative sa contribution aux rejets de CO2.… Seguir leyendo »
The past year has seen a growing storm of environmental campaigners threatening to bring the air transport industry down to earth. The past few weeks have seen two high-profile protests at Heathrow and parliament. Some groups are convinced that aviation is not doing enough in the effort against climate change. Planes seem to have overtaken automobiles for environmental criticism, although their impact is far less.
It is true that we in the industry need to do a lot more. But we have also been doing a bad job at communicating both our progress on the environment and the fundamental role that aviation now plays in the world economy.… Seguir leyendo »
For once, I agree and sympathise with Tony Blair. Like the Prime Minister, I do a great deal of flying, for business and pleasure, and I haven’t the slightest intention of altering my travel plans in any way. Mr Blair’s one mistake in flying to Florida for a family holiday was to offer a half-baked apology. He would have much done more good, for the global environment and for the quality of public debate in Britain, by sticking to his original position, pithily summarised by The Guardian’s front-page headline on Tuesday: “Carry on flying, says Blair — science will save the planet”.… Seguir leyendo »
George Monbiot asserts that the EU emissions trading scheme is a red herring (Ministers know emissions trading is a red herring and won't work, December 19). The truth is the argument that he puts - that Britain should, or could, tackle aviation emissions on its own - is the diversion.There is no question that combating climate change is the most serious challenge we as a society face, and that aviation has a key role to play. Monbiot's position on aviation, as he explained two months ago (Drastic action on climate change is needed now - and here's the plan, October 31), is to cut the UK's aviation capacity by 90%.… Seguir leyendo »
I suppose I should be flattered. In a speech to fellow airline bosses a few days ago, Martin Broughton, the chief executive of British Airways, announced that the primary challenge for the industry is to "isolate the George Monbiots of this world". That shouldn't be difficult. For a terrifying spectre, I'm feeling pretty lonely. Almost everyone in politics appears to want to forget about aviation's impact on the environment.On Wednesday the secretary of state for communities launched a bold plan to make new homes more energy efficient. She claims it will save 7m tonnes of carbon. On Thursday Douglas Alexander, the transport secretary, announced that he would allow airports to keep growing: by 2030 the number of passengers will increase from 228 million to 465 million.… Seguir leyendo »
It is disappointing that the debate on aviation's role in climate change is guided more by emotion than facts. George Monbiot's call for a freeze on all new airport construction, and the introduction of a national quota for landing slots, is a case in point (Drastic action on climate change is needed now - and here's the plan, October 31).He lays much of the blame for climate change at aviation's door, but he ignores some basic truths. UN scientists from the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimate aviation's contribution to global carbon emissions to be just 2%. To put things in perspective, road traffic contributes 18% globally, while the fossil fuels used to generate heat and power contribute 35%.… Seguir leyendo »
It is a testament to the power of money that Nicholas Stern's report should have swung the argument for drastic action, even before anyone has finished reading it. He appears to have demonstrated what many of us suspected: that it would cost much less to prevent runaway climate change than to seek to live with it. Useful as this finding is, I hope it doesn't mean that the debate will now concentrate on money. The principal costs of climate change will be measured in lives, not pounds. As Stern reminded us yesterday, there would be a moral imperative to seek to prevent mass death even if the economic case did not stack up.… Seguir leyendo »
As I write this, I am flying back from a two-day trip to New York, as a result of which I am responsible for creating 1.2 tonnes of carbon dioxide. Next week I will be making two return flights to Europe, adding another 0.2 tonnes, and the week after that, I will be taking my entire family on a holiday to the Caribbean, creating roughly six tonnes of CO2.
Am I a carbon criminal for creating 7.4 tonnes of pollution, thereby bringing forward the day of judgment when we will all get our just deserts by roasting in a technological, post-enlightenment version of Dante’s Inferno?… Seguir leyendo »
By Keith Jowett and Roger Wiltshire, chief executive of the Airport Operators Association and secretary general of the British Air Transport Association respectively. Response to For the sake of the world's poor... (THE GUARDIAN, 03/03/06):
George Monbiot's diatribe against aviation was full of the sort of emotive language one might see on an extreme eco-warrior website, with references to Orwellian nightmares and "unparalleled disaster" (For the sake of the world's poor, we must keep the wealthy at home, February 28).It is astonishing that one of the few industries where Britain is still a world leader, and which is essential to the prosperity of this nation, can be criticised in such a cavalier manner.… Seguir leyendo »
At last the battlelines have been drawn, and the first major fight over climate change is about to begin. All over the country, a coalition of homeowners and anarchists, of Nimbys and internationalists, is mustering to fight the greatest future cause of global warming: the growth of aviation.
Not all these people care about the biosphere. Some are concerned merely that their homes are due to be bulldozed, or that, living under the new flight paths, they will never get a good night's sleep again. But anyone who has joined a broad-based coalition understands the power of this compound of idealism and dogged self-interest.… Seguir leyendo »
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