Branson should focus on greening planes as well as boats: TUI

Richard Branson should also be calling for an efficiency rating in aviation

A free internet database set up by Richard Branson will list the energy efficiency of almost every ocean-going vessel, in a scheme designed to reduce shipping emissions by nearly 25%.
Using publicly available data on the engine size and CO2 emissions of nearly 60,000 ships, exporters and importers, as well as holidaymakers on cruises, will be able to choose between clean and dirty ships.

The initiative, called Shippingefficiency.org, rates ships from A-G in a similar fashion to ratings given to fridges or washing machines. It will allow supermarkets, oil and mining companies, food importers, retailers and manufacturers to specify that their goods are sent from places like China or Australia only by the least polluting ships.

"By eco-labelling clean and dirty ships, we hope to change the mindset in shipping and begin making gigaton-scale reductions in emissions," said Peter Boyd, director of Carbon War Room, a business NGO co-founded by Richard Branson with the aim of saving millions of tonnes of CO2 from industry.”

Under the new ratings, the biggest ships in the world range from the most to the least efficient. The giant tax haven cruise ship, The World, rates an F – the second worst score – the Queen Mary 2 is only slightly better with an E, and the massive Allure of the Seas – launched last week and officially the largest cruise liner in the world – is an F.

The lowest score, G, goes to the mighty Aegean, a giant crude oil tanker built nearly 40 years ago, but top marks go to the Berge Stahl, a bulk carrier which is so big it can only dock in two ports in the world.

“But” said TUI “If Richard Branson is campaigning for an efficiency rating for every ocean going vessel, he should also be pushing for the creation for a similar system within the aviation industry that all airlines are rated against.”

“Thomson and First Choice believe that the preferred measurement for how an airline performs is through grams of CO2 generated per revenue passenger kilometre (RPK).”

“This is both transparent and allows our customers to know exactly what proportion of our emissions is relevant to them individually. If all airlines use the same metric, passengers will be able to compare airlines and select the most efficient company much more easily. “

“Airlines have been gathering baseline data for the launch of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme in 2012.  There is no reason why this data cannot be shared with the public immediately and be used to create an airline efficiency league table. This would allow carbon transparency within the aviation industry, giving environmentally efficient airlines the means to put more pressure on the government to either scrap or optimise Air Passenger Duty (APD).”

“Thomson and First Choice supports the ‘polluter pays’ principle when dealing with aviation emissions, but have never supported APD because its revenue is not specifically directed towards projects that benefit the environment.  It also does not reward airlines such as Thomson Airways that operate efficiently and with high load factors or penalize those airlines who perform badly.  Thomson and First Choice continue to support and are lobbying the government for a per plane tax.” 

Valere Tjolle
Valere Tjolle is editor of the Sustainable Tourism Report Suite 2011 – latest news on the suite at www.travelmole.com/stories/1145615.php