The Green Party in the UK released their manifesto today, of which three pledges have been made towards the aviation industry.
Unsurprisingly, the pledges itself place more priority on the environment as opposed to the sector itself.
Without further ado, let’s get into it…
Pledges Made by the Green Party in their Manifesto…
The Green Party argues that aviation is the fastest-growing source of CO2 emissions.
Furthermore, as well as this, they argue that it is the wealthiest that are driving this trend.
So, as per their manifesto, they have pledged the following three things:
- A frequent-flyer levy.
- A ban on domestic flights for journeys that would take less than three hours by train.
- A halt to the expansion of new airport capacity.
Point two and three is similar to that of the Liberal Democrats, who also released their manifesto this week.
The difference on this front is that the Green Party wording appears to halt expansion of ALL expansion of airport capacity, not just in London.
Furthermore, the Liberal Democrats have also pledged the same as point two as well.
What About The Industry’s Efforts to Sustainability?
The aviation industry is currently working towards achieving the target of net-zero by 2050.
This is through innovations such as Sustainable Aviation Fuel, hydrogen power, electric power and more.
But within this, capacity at airports, particularly in the UK, need to increase, which is why expansion is the best way forward.
Airports are also working to become net-zero as well, and such expansion measures would seek to meet those targets.
By preventing such expansion, this could have a detriment to the overall sector in the UK.
The UK aviation sector is now worth £52bn in overall GDP, which supports a staggering 960,000 jobs.
It also brings in £8.7bn in taxation to the Treasury.
So with that in mind, if you are able to expand the infrastructure, then it’s going to bring more value in terms of GDP and more importantly, taxation to the Treasury.
Overall…
In conclusion, the pledges made by the Green Party are hardly surprising, given their push for rapid environmental sustainability.
Such radical proposals do come from a political party that don’t have a significant majority in the UK Parliament.
However, with this upcoming General Election expected to create some surprises, it is game on for all parties.
But for now, all eyes will be on the industry’s response to the Green Party Manifesto.
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