Sustainable Transport and the Environment Guide - Unite the Union

The aerospace industry cannot produce new aircraft swiftly enough to fully replace
existing fleets before 2020. As a consequence existing fleets will need to continue
operations. These older passenger aircraft tend to end their working lives as freight
only carriers. As a result even if the new technology is implemented on aircraft
entering service, drop in solutions will also be needed to enable the existing fleets to
reduce their impact.
Indeed a more problematic and possibly more difficult questions that may have to be
asked is to what extent is it possible to have a growing and sustainable aviation sector,
and how such a system could seamlessly integrates with other sustainable transport
networks.
A further consideration is of the sustainability of off-shoring the service industry,
manufacturing and agricultural production still further and further from the end
consumer, both in terms of environmental and employment impacts, even if this
would have increased the number of jobs in the transport sector.
Therefore the CAT National Committee supports the introduction of focused
carbon offsetting schemes, but not as an alternative to carbon pricing, with robust
regulation in place to ensure the scheme is making real sustainable reductions in
emissions, without putting UK jobs at risk in the long term.
The CAT National Committee recognises that aviations contribution to CO 2 is
greater than a number of other industries. Its working assumption is the through
radiative forcing its impact is twice that of some other industries. As there have not
been any studies into the radiative forcing levels of other transport modes, this
figure will be kept under review and changed if necessary if and when further
scientific evidence becomes available.
The CAT National Committee reconfirms its support for the ETS and calls for the
introduction of a world wide emissions trading scheme for civil aviation.
Also it should campaign for a scheme to be introduced either in the EU or
worldwide for the decommissioning of more polluting aircraft.
The CAT National Committee want to see the ending of the Air Passenger Duty
when the EU Emissions Trading Scheme starts operation. If Air Passenger Duty is
maintained, then the revenue stream should be hypothecated and used for
environmentally friendly civil aviation projects. i.e. research, development and
implementation of new operational practices and technology.
The Department for Transport (DfT) recognises that transport needs to play a key role
in helping to deliver reductions in emissions of CO 2 . Yet some means of transport are
more sustainable than others.
Paradoxically, road transport emits six times more carbon dioxide per passenger mile
than rail, but motoring costs have fallen in recent years. Meanwhile, rail is far more
carbon efficient, but rail fares have increased steeply. 43
43 Greening the workplace, a report by the TUSDAC unions, 2005.
45