Greener Skies: Let the debate begin
HONG KONG: The Greener Skies 2007 conference taking place in Hong Kong this month will be set against a background of increasing government intervention over aviation’s contribution to global warming.
Last week, in the most radical move yet to paint aviation as the enemy of global warming, the opposition Conservation party in the UK advocated levying huge air taxes on those who take more than one foreign holiday a year.
Under the proposals, every family in Britain would be given a ‘green air miles’ allowance, enabling them to take the equivalent of one return trip to Spain. After that, they would be forced to pay a new levy – possibly twice the current £20-per-head return ‘air passenger duty’ – if they go abroad a second time.
If the proposals were to become offical policy, long haul destinations from Europe would be badly hit if UK travellers opted for destinations closer to home to preserve their “green miles”.
The recent Stern Review predicted that aviation would contribute 2.5 per cent of global greenhouse gases by 2050 and that to impose unilateral tax schemes on international businesses would incentivise companies to work around tax regimes.
Predictably, the Conservative party proposals have been savaged by the travel industry and most of the media in the UK, some of whom have called the moves “a tax on fun”.
EasyJet chief executive, Andy Harrison, called the proposals, “meaningless political posturing”.
In Asia, the debate over aviation and the environment has not yet registered the same intensity as it has in Europe although airlines operate in a global environment and often have to respond to global initiatives
The Greener Skies conference will hear from industry leaders from the Asia-Pacific’s leading airlines and airports as they attempt to give aviation something it has been lacking: good PR in the global warming debate.
Speakers will outline their strategies to combat one of the greatest problems facing the global transport industry – balancing the travelling public’s demand for rapid transport in a world just beginning to comprehend the full impact of climate change.
To date, the collective industry position has been built around “the two per cent response” – that the aviation industry is responsible for only two per cent of the world’s carbon emissions compared to all other forms of transport.
The Greener Skies 2007 will hear what aviation – an industry that contributes eight per cent to global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) annually – is doing about climate change.
“Careful consideration of environmental impact has become an integral part of our part of business decisions. Our customers, shareholders and staff expect that environmental performance must also improve in time,” said Chew Choon Seng, chairman of the International Air Transport Association and chief executive of Singapore Airlines.
Greener Skies 2007 will be held the Conrad International hotel
on Thursday, March 29, and Friday, March 30 (half day).
Ian Jarrett
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