Source · Select Committees · Environmental Audit Committee
Recommendation 10
10
Deferred
Paragraph: 78
Maintain and enhance engagement with aviation for 2% annual CO2 reduction monitoring.
Recommendation
We recommend that the Government sustain and enhance its engagement with the aviation industry on the delivery of operational efficiencies from current and future fleets of aircraft operating through the UK, to maintain the ambition to secure 2% year- on-year CO2 emissions reductions from fuel and operational efficiencies. The delivery of these reductions must be rigorously monitored against an established baseline: should the rate of progress in reductions fall behind 2%, the potential contribution of system efficiencies to meeting the 2050 net zero target must be urgently reassessed.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government partially agrees, but focuses instead on its aspiration for zero-emission domestic routes by 2030 and a net-zero target for UK domestic aviation by 2040. It also outlines significant funding for the Aerospace Technology Institute Programme to support low and zero-carbon aircraft technology development.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
78
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government · verbatim extract
Deferred
The Government notes this recommendation. The Government recognises that efficiencies in our airspace, aircraft and airports remains a key lever in decarbonising the sector in the near term. As part of our high-ambition scenario in the Jet Zero Strategy, we assume an average annual fuel efficiency improvement of 2% from aircraft, air traffic management and operational efficiencies. We keep the assumptions in the Jet Zero Strategy under close review and will consider whether further action is required to meet the trajectory to net zero, including through our first major review in 2027. We have worked closely with NATS to implement Free Route Airspace (FRA). The first deployment of FRA was rolled out in Scotland in 2021 and will save 12,000 tonnes CO every year (equivalent to the power used by some 3,500 family homes). The second tranche was deployed over the west of England in March 2023 will save a further 12,000 tonnes CO each year. The Government is supporting the development of new low and zero-carbon emission aircraft technology through the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) Programme. The Programme will receive £685m of government funding between 2022 and 2025, and a further £975m between 2025 and 2030. Recommendation 5: Recommend that the Department for Transport and the Civil Aviation Authority intensify their work on airspace modernisation, bearing in mind the overarching principle of environmental sustainability.
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