Airline bailouts without climate conditions could be unlawful
Right now, the government has a choice. They can choose to give billionaire tax exiles like Richard Branson a free ride, or to protect people and the planet and ensure the UK builds back better.
Image: Riik@mctr on Flickr (creative commons)
You might have seen on the news that airlines such as Virgin Atlantic have been lobbying the government to receive additional financial support, on top of nationwide measures, following the drop in air travel due to the Covid-19 crisis. We teamed up with law firm Leigh Day to look into the legal implications if the government were to offer airlines bailouts without climate conditions attached.
We know that recovery from Covid-19 will need huge public investment, which must go to building a better future for everyone, not propping up polluters. So today Leigh Day, acting for Possible, sent a letter to the chancellor warning that providing bailout packages which allow airlines to return to business-as-usual emissions could be unlawful on climate grounds.
This means that any bailouts failing to adhere to the UK’s net-zero by 2050 target, or its international commitments to help limit warming to 1.5 degrees, would be open to legal challenge. The letter also made clear that measures to support airlines should take into account the climate impacts of aviation’s non-CO2 emissions, such as water vapour and nitrogen oxides, which also have a warming effect. These non CO2 impacts are around the same size as the CO2 impacts, meaning that aviation is twice as harmful for the climate as it appears to be when only its carbon emissions are counted.
Last week we commissioned YouGov polling which found that just 1 in 10 people in the UK (11%) support airlines getting bailouts without plans to tackle climate change. While we’re certainly not saying that airlines should get bailouts, if the government DOES decide to bail out airlines, we’re calling for those bailouts to be conditional on airlines commiting to reduce their emissions in line with the UK’s net zero by 2050 target. This would include the introduction of a progressive tax to limit frequent flying by the 15% of people who take 70% of all flights.
We need to build a low-carbon transport system that works for everyone, not just for a small minority of wealthy frequent flyers--and the airline bosses cashing in despite the damage flying causes our climate.
Want to help?
There are two things you can do to put pressure on the government to ensure any bailouts for airlines come with conditions to protect people and the planet.
Sign the petition
Over 75,000 people worldwide have already signed an international petition, launched in the UK by Possible and aviation campaign network Stay Grounded. Why not add your name now? And if you’ve already signed, please share the petition on social media and with your family and friends. The more people sign, the easier it will be to show that this is an issue the public cares about.
Write to your MP
As your representative in parliament, your MP is a resource well worth using. Over the past few days, thousands of us have written to our MPs asking them to ask the Chancellor to listen to our demands. If you haven’t yet asked your MP to ensure that public money protects what matters, use our tool to do so now - it’s quick and easy and we even have a template email to help you out.
