13 June 2007 - Emissions trading will fail to curb aviation’s growing contribution to climate change sufficiently, Green Party MEP Caroline Lucas will warn a Brussels conference on aviation tomorrow (Thursday, June 14th).

Speaking at a policy summit organised by Friends of Europe, Dr Lucas will call for an aviation-only scheme to combat the sector’s non-CO2 emissions to prevent the airlines’ inclusion in the scheme resulting in a worsening of greenhouse gas pollution and a hastening of devastating climate change.

"A key point about aviation is that its impacts on the climate go significantly beyond just its CO2 emissions - the water vapour, nitrous oxide, sulphate and soot particles emitted by aeroplanes mean flying is at least twice as damaging to the climate as its CO2 emissions alone would suggest," she will say.

"The EU Commission and UK Government’s proposals to include the airlines in the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) won’t take this into account - and therefore could see total emissions rise as airlines buy emissions ‘rights’ from other, less-damaging, sectors."

Dr Lucas, whose proposals for an aviation-only ETS were adopted by a majority of MEPs from all parties last year - but ignored by the unelected Commission - will make her comments at a Friends of Europe policy summit asking ‘Is Civil Aviation a Major CO2 problem?’ held in Brussels to mark Green Transport Week, and ahead of European Day of Action on Aviation, which takes place this Saturday (June 16th)

"It has been calculated that if aviation is allowed to grow at current projections it will account for all permitted greenhouse gas emissions - across all sectors - by 2045. I’d call that a major problem," she will add.

"But most of this climate threat comes from growth that hasn’t yet happened, so the sooner we act, the less painful it will be.

"Allowing the sector to grow further before applying the brakes will increasingly lock people into air-travel dependent lifestyles and make it harder to act to reduce demand in future."

Dr Lucas is the Environment Committee’s rapporteur on aviation and climate change.

ENDS