Aviation and transport
In the UK, transport accounts for around 28% of our total emissions of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas causing climate change. Aviation has been one of the fastest-growing sources of emissions in the UK in recent years. Living within the limits of a single planet will therefore require changes in the way we currently move ourselves and our goods around the world. WWF has established a new work stream on aviation, addressing the perceived economic case for airport expansion and the exclusion of aviation emissions from frameworks such as the Climate Change Bill. This work will be backed by a major campaign encouraging businesses to cut down on flying by making greater use of alternatives such as videoconferencing.
WWF is focusing its work on aviation because this sector is already responsible for around 13% of the UK's overall climate change impact and, if recent rates of growth continue, aviation emissions will account for half the UK's carbon budget by 2050.
If the government increases its carbon reduction target from 60% to 80% as WWF, other NGOs and leading scientists are demanding, aviation would then consume our entire carbon budget.
Swallowing up our limited carbon budget in this way could potentially push up the cost of living for everyone - including half of the UK population who don't fly in any given year.
We aim to secure a fundamental rethink of aviation policy to ensure that emissions from flights leaving the UK’s airports stabilise at around 2010 levels. Emissions from aviation are growing more rapidly than virtually any other sector and threaten to take up the whole of the UK’s fair share of global emissions within a few decades.