Looks like some hardcore lobbying might be paying off: the influential Climate Change Committee, which is advising the Government on its climate change targets, has just announced that it wants international aviation to be included in the Climate Change Bill.
The Government has always been opposed to this, because it's harder to meet emissions targets if you have to count things that actually pollute. It would much rather focus on all sorts of areas which can be sorted out with superficial changes - like new lightbulbs or a draught excluder. Crucially the CCC also recomended an 80% cut in emissions, which Brown all but promised to accept during his Labour Party Conference speech.
So is this a total victory for climate campaigners and people who don't want the earth to transform into a microwave dinner? Sadly not; important as the Bill is, it won't mean a thing unless the public forces Government, civil servants and corporations to act on CO2. Amid all the self-congratulation we mustn't lose sight of the urgent need to physically block any efforts to build new coal-fired power stations, roads or runways. Failure simply isn't an option.
Breaking news: of course it could never be so simple. As the smoke cleared it's become apparent that the CCC had not actually called for international aviation to be included. Instead they want international flights to be counted seperately and airlines asked very nicely if they'll reduce their emissions. If they fail to then other sectors will be expected to pick up the slack. For god's sake people, grow a backbone and stop including pathetic caveats to exempt an industry that has consistently failed to sort itself out.
