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Sign up to E-NewsCampaigners warn of global refugees created by Scottish airport expansion
For immediate release: Thursday 5th February 2009
At lunchtime campaigners protested outside the Scottish Parliament in response to new data released today which indicates that airport expansion in Scotland could create 20,000 climate refugees world-wide by 2050. The protestors, symbolising the 36 Scottish civil servants who fly within the UK every day, handed giant paper aeroplanes to MSPs, including Patrick Harvie and Cathy Peattie, convener and co-convener of the Climate Change Committee, urging them to lead the UK by example before it is too late.
Simon Bateson from the World Development Movement, which released the data on climate refugees, said: "MSPs cannot put their heads in the sand. If we don't cap flying in Scotland, we risk being responsible for permanently destroying the dry season water supply of 100,000 people around the world. The Heathrow decision shows that Westminster is out of touch, but MSPs can still use their reason and take a stand against expansion at Edinburgh, Prestwick and other Scottish airports. Aviation must also be counted in the Scottish climate change bill from the outset, but at the moment it is not."
Earlier in the week, the Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change Committee reported that the government's National Planning Framework leaves the door wide open on airport expansion.
Tilly Gifford of the campaign group, Plane Speaking, said: "Loopholes on Scottish airport expansion in the Government's National Planning Framework are devious and damaging, and we urge MSPs to resist what is ultimately harmful for the Scottish economy as well as the environment."
Karen Knamiller, one of the protestors, said: "It's time to catch up and choose life. The majority of UK businesses are already saying they want to fly less in the next ten years, and solutions exist. If high-speed rail shared the £10 billion annual subsidy that the UK aviation industry currently enjoys, passengers could be travelling to London by train in 3 hours without ruining the lives of millions of people."
STORY ENDS
See all pictures from the protest
NOTES FOR EDITORS
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MSPs that met with campaigners were: Cathy Peattie, Shirley-Anne Somerville, Robin Harper, Patrick Harvie, Mike Pringle and Robert Brown. Patrick Harvie today issued a motion to Parliament stating: "That the Parliament acknowledges the recent report from the World Development Movement, which found that airport expansion in Scotland could create 20,000 climate refugees worldwide by 2050 due to the damage caused by those increased climate change emissions; welcomes the plea from some 21,000 people that Scotland's share of international aviation emissions should be counted in a Climate Change (Scotland) Bill from the start; notes that campaigners will bring this message to the Scottish Parliament on Thursday 5th February, in order to highlight the case for the Climate Change (Scotland) Bill to explicitly commit to action on international aviation emissions from the outset; further notes the views of those campaigners that MSPs must not allow the second National Planning Framework to support aviation expansion without full and proper public and environmental scrutiny and believes aviation expansion remains economically unjustified, especially given that the majority of businesses in the UK plan to reduce their flying in the next 10 years."
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Campaigners were echoing the 21,000 responses to the 2008 Scottish Climate Change Bill consultation which called for Scotland's share of international aviation to be included in an 80% emissions reduction target by 2050. The Government's draft bill, now before Parliament, states that a commitment on aviation will not be considered at this stage.
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Recently revised Department for Transport figures, which reflect the UK government's 2003 white paper The Future of Air Transport, reveal that CO2 equivalent emissions from Scottish airports could rise from 5.1 million tonnes to 8.4 million tonnes by 2050. The data also indicates that we could see air passenger numbers in Scotland rise from 25 million today to 125 million by 2050.
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The Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change Committee reported this week that:
"The second NPF suggests that growth at Scotland's international airports will be facilitated through a mix of access enhancements and surface measures such as new taxiways and hangar facilities. In the last decade growth in air travel has driven annual increases in emissions from the sector in Scotland of 7% a year since 1990, and almost 9% a year in the last decade... However, the climate implications of growth are a simple factor of the number of flights and the efficiency of the aircraft. The design and location of new public transport links, hangars, terminal buildings and so forth will have negligible impact on climate implications. Estimates suggest aircraft efficiency could improve by 1-2% per year71. So simply to hold emissions stable, flight numbers must not grow more than this. To contribute to the target reductions in emissions it is necessary for flight numbers to fall. Using the NPF to designate measures to increase air travel as a national need therefore sends the wrong message when urgent action on climate change is needed."
The report continues:
"Increasing passenger numbers through Scottish airports could actually worsen the balance of trade, as expenditure by Scots travelling abroad significantly outweighs expenditure in Scotland by visitors."
Full report at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/s3/committees/eet/reports-09/eer09-01.htm
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Scientists estimate that a 3-4 degree centigrade global temperature rise could create 200 million refugees worldwide. The World Development Movement has calculated that the share of this attributed to Scottish airport expansion means that:
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Scottish airports could be responsible for creating around 20,000 climate refugees between 2005 and 2050.
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Scottish airports could be responsible for causing 30,000 more people around the world to suffer from extreme hunger.
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Scottish airports could be responsible for taking away the dry season water supply of 100,000 people
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See the original UK report "Carbon Evictions" at http://www.wdm.org.uk/resources/reports/climate/index.htm
5. The World Development Movement is a grass-roots membership organisation which campaigns against the root causes of poverty in the developing world. Website www.wdmscotland.org.uk
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