Climate change and aircraft emissions policy

Our policy
BAA recognises that climate change is a significant issue for the aviation industry. In doing so, BAA acknowledges the importance of its 'influencing' role in working with the sector to manage aviation's contribution to climate change within an international framework of globally-agreed reduction targets.

When developing policy on climate change BAA believes that policy makers should view aviation in the context of both the UK's climate change programme and the strategy for sustainable development, as well as aviation's important role in facilitating the high-value, low-impact, knowledge-driven economy and in supporting the tourism industry.

Recognising its influencing and leadership role BAA will commit to:

• Working within the aviation industry, both nationally and internationally, to raise the profile of climate change as an important issue for aviation through industry bodies such as AOA, ACI and airline communities
• Engage with the Government to support the development of UK political leadership on measures to reduce and/or mitigate aviation's contribution to climate change
• Promoting the need for and contributing to a sector-wide approach to climate change through dialogue with key stakeholders e.g. through a sustainable development forum or sector strategy
• Seeking to develop mechanisms, with our regulator, to encourage our business partners to take up new technologies in order to improve the aviation industry's environmental performance
• Continuing to work to improve BAA's and aviation's fuel efficiency, eg greater focus on air traffic control and operational measures including air and ground-based emissions. BAA will continue to take a leadership stance in terms of its own contribution to greenhouse gas generation, eg developing renewable energy sources for airports, alternative fuels for airport vehicles and surface access strategies.

BAA would support practical mechanisms to minimise emissions which:

• Are both environmentally and economically effective
• Are designed to stimulate the take up of clean technologies, operating practices and research into new and cleaner technologies (including alternative fuels)
• Are designed transparently with input from the aviation industry and the environmental community in order to gain the widest acceptance possible amongst stakeholders and facilitate the future growth of the industry
• Are revenue neutral or hypothecate revenues into mitigation, research and development
• Does not encourage anti-competitive behavior by airlines and accommodates the diversity of the dynamic aviation industry.
  

White Paper and beyond
In the White Paper, which was published in December 2003, the Government made a commitment to use its Presidency of the EU in 2005 to press for aviation's participation in an EU-wide emissions trading scheme. BAA welcomes the Government's commitment and agrees that aviation should meet the full cost of its environmental impacts.