Change your ticket, not the climate

Posted by bex — 22 March 2007 at 3:08pm - Comments

Greenpeace volunteers set up a climate ticket exchange in Gatwick airport

Greenpeace volunteers set up a climate ticket exchange in Gatwick airport

Passengers queuing for BA's first domestic flight between Gatwick and Newquay are being offered an upgrade with a difference today: the chance to exchange their plane tickets for climate-friendly train tickets.

BA's new domestic route, opened today, isn't just irresponsible given what we know about climate change - it's also completely unnecessary. If you take into account the time and cost of travel to airports and checking in, travelling by plane works out to be more expensive than train, only a little quicker and ten times more damaging to the climate.

Volunteers including Greenpeace aviation campaigner Emily Armistead have been talking to travellers as they queue to check in at Gatwick and Newquay airports, taking questions on the impacts of aviation on the climate. "We're finding travellers are really interested to hear how polluting flying can be," says Emily. People have been shocked to find out how much more damaging to the climate flying is, and surprised to find out that, on this route there is very little difference in travel times and cost between the train and the plane.

It seems like every day we hear more news that climate change is happening faster than people think. Here in the UK, flying is the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions; it doubled in the 1990s alone. Flights from and within the UK account for 5.5 per cent of our total CO2 emissions, but the true cost of flying is worse still; because greenhouse gases cause more damage when emitted at altitude, the true effect of aviation is at least 11 per cent of the UK's climate impact.

In this climate, even BA must get it, right? They've publicly stated their "concern about climate change". Actually, it's nothing but greenwash and spin. Instead of restricting their greenhouse gas emissions, BA has signed up to the European Emission's Trading Scheme (ETS), knowing full-well that the ETS won't mean a reduction in aviation's emissions.

But, as Emily says: "Much as we'd love to operate a permanent climate ticket exchange, our resources don't stretch that far. Instead it will be down to politicians to stand up to BA and reverse the emergence of binge-flying that's doing so much to wreck the climate." The government should transfer the billions of pounds worth of subsidies aviation gets to rail services, ground unnecessary mainland domestic flights like this one and call a halt to airport expansion.

Take action
Let BA Chief Executive Willie Walsh know that "the world's favourite airline" needs to show genuine leadership and responsibility in stabilising CO2 emissions from aviation if it hopes to justify that tag. Launching a new, unnecessary domestic route right now not only fails to achieve this, it puts two fingers up to everyone who is trying to make a positive contribution on climate change.

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