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Aviation

Volume 454: debated on Thursday 14 December 2006

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the Government’s target for a 60 per cent. reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 includes emissions from international aviation. (102343)

The Government remain committed to taking a lead in tackling the problem of climate change, and to putting the UK on a path to a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by some 60 per cent. from current levels by 2050. International flights from the UK are not currently included in this figure as there is, as yet, no international agreement on ways of allocating such emissions. But we have made it clear aviation needs to take its share of responsibility for tackling climate change. A well-designed emissions trading scheme is an important way of ensuring that aviation contributes to climate stabilisation, and the European Commission is expected to publish a legislative proposal to include aviation in the EU emissions trading scheme by the end of the year.