A report published today by the Climate Change Committee proves that the Scottish Government’s 50 per cent cut to Air Passenger Duty can be met without any increase in CO2 emissions according to Edinburgh Airport.
Reducing Emissions in Scotland Progress Report 2016 says that cutting APD by 50% would increase the number of flights and could lead to an increase in aviation emissions of 4%.
The report suggests that the potential increase in CO2 emissions would be a small part of total Scottish emissions which are all lumped together into one statistic. The increase would be 0.1% of the Scottish total and this is described as ‘manageable’.
Edinburgh Airport says that one of the salient points in the report is that across the UK cars produce more emissions than all other transport modes combined. Other ways of reducing the country’s total emissions include introducing average speed reductions on certain roads such as the A9 and the A77 where the government are still looking at the effect this is having.
Edinburgh Airport’s Chief Executive Gordon Dewar has praised the report and has highlighted the work that the airport is doing in this area – as well as pledging to give further support towards in the drive to reduce carbon emissions in Scotland.
Mr Dewar said: “This report brings some perspective about the sources of carbon emissions and it shows that that cutting Air Passenger Duty is not a threat to Scotland’s Co2 targets.
“A 50 % cut to APD in one move will incentivise airlines to bring more aircraft to Scotland which in turn will deliver greater inbound tourism and business opportunities creating new jobs and stimulating the economy to the tune of £300 million GVA per year.
“Cutting APD gives a clear signal to Europe and to the world that Scotland is very much ‘open for business’ – and this is a message that must surely be backed by everyone.
“We support the Scottish Government’s ambitious carbon emissions targets and already have Tesla Superchargers onsite and we are investigating further electric car charging points. Our public transport mode share is the highest of any UK airport outside of London and the majority of buses operating public services to/from the airport meet EURO VI emission standards.
“The debate on emissions and the growth in aviation need not be so polarised. New technology is helping to reduce emissions as well bring noise reductions and improve safety. We will continue to work with Sustainable Aviation and with the Scottish and UK governments and all who want to make Scotland both better connected and environmentally more sustainable.”
You can read the full report here.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
