CPC2020: Jet zero: will sustainable aviation take off? - a podcast by Conservative Environment Network

Panel: Meg Trethewey (CEN Head of Programmes, Chair), Henry Smith MP (CEN), Roz Bulleid (Head of Policy, Green Alliance), Robert Courts MP (Minister for Aviation) & John Holland-Kaye (CEO, Heathrow Airport)

While Covid-19 has inflicted significant challenges upon the aviation industry, decarbonising aviation can help us to ‘build back better’ by creating high-skilled jobs in the low-carbon industries of the future, and tackle climate change. Decarbonising international aviation will require a global effort, but the UK can and is leading in research and development into low-carbon technologies like sustainable aviation fuels, hydrogen and electric planes. This panel will discuss the feasibility of sustainable aviation, the opportunities for UK-led innovation, and how the government, the sector, and consumers can reduce our carbon footprint from flying.

Contributing £28 billion to the UK economy each year and supporting almost one million UK jobs, the aviation sector already showcases British expertise in science and engineering. Through sustainable aviation, there are opportunities to unlock more jobs, particularly important as part of the ‘levelling up’ agenda, while delivering the Prime Minister’s goal of making the UK a ‘science superpower’.

Currently, the sector is accountable for 2% of global CO2 emissions, but it is likely to be the largest emitting sector in the UK by 2050, with passenger numbers predicted to grow by around 70% up to 2050. The Government’s ambition for net zero flights is included in the UK’s first Transport Decarbonisation Plan, and reflected in the formation of the Jet Zero Council to make flights more environmentally friendly and support the development of sustainable fuels. But what short-term and long-term policies are needed to make these important goals a reality?

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