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‘Health warning’ call to highlight airlines’ impact on environment
EasyJet has rejected calls for airlines to carry cigarette style health warnings.
The suggestion comes in a report by the Institute for Public Policy Research which called for large and clearly visible warnings such as – Flying Causes Climate Change.
The IPPR argued that providing consumers with highly visible information about the impact of flying on the environment will make people think more about the implications of their travel.
It wants taxes on aviation to be changed to reflect the true environmental cost of emissions. Increases in aviation taxation should be matched by improvements in rail transport to make it a viable alternative to domestic and European flights
The group’s head of climate change Simon Retallack said: “The evidence that aviation damages the atmosphere is just as clear as the evidence that smoking kills.
“We know that smokers notice health warnings on cigarettes, and we have to tackle our addiction to flying in the same way.
“But if we are to change people’s behaviour, warnings must be accompanied by offering people alternatives to short haul flights and by steps to make the cost of flying better reflect its impact on the environment.”
EasyJet responded by saying: “Aviation is the red herring of global climate change and focussing excessively on air travel means that serious policies to combat power generation (one-third of global greenhouse gases) are by-passed in favour of policies to address aviation (one fiftieth of global greenhouse gases).
“If the IPPR is actually keen to do something about global warming rather it should direct its attention towards those industries where it can seriously make a difference.
“The Stern Review showed that aviation accounts for only 1.6% of global greenhouse gases – which, put simply, means that grounding every aircraft in the world would have no affect whatsoever on climate change.
“EasyJet favours a more constructive debate about how policies can be used to incentivise airlines to operate the cleanest, most modern aircraft technology.”
by Phil Davies
Phil Davies
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