15.06.20
Government unveils Jet Zero Council for aviation decarbonisation
In a statement on Covid-19 from the Transport Secretary Grant Shapps on Friday (June 12), the Jet Zero Council initiative was unveiled in a bid to make a green recovery from the pandemic.
Members of the group, who are yet to be published in detail, will include Ministers, businesses, trade bodies and environmental groups, and will work together to bring the aviation industry on the journey to net-zero carbon by 2050.
Transport Minister Grant Shapps said:
“The challenge is to make transport, currently our biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, part of the solution, not the problem.
“Take the aviation sector, which has had an impossible few months, yet, despite the obvious challenges, there’s a real determination within the industry to have a greener restart.
“So we’re bringing together leaders from aviation, environmental groups and government, to form the Jet Zero Council.”
READ MORE: LGA exposes potential for over a million new green jobs by 2050
The role of the group will be to make net zero emissions possible for future flights, and ‘demonstrate flight across the Atlantic, without harming the environment’ within a generation.
He also announced backing for a plant to be built in aviation biofuels in Lincolnshire and a project in collaboration with Cambridge University to accelerate technologies for zero carbon flight.
The environmental effects of travel restrictions from the coronavirus crisis lockdown have presented an opportunity for the fight against climate change, with Active Travel receiving a £2bn boost to support the reduction of cars on the road and make walking and cycling a more attractive option.
LISTEN: Ep. 16 Cllr Nick Forbes - Net zero and an inclusive economy