July 24, 2022

Can flying ever be climate friendly?

27 minutes

Since the 1990s, air flight has made the world a smaller place. In one 24-hour period you can fly to the other end of the globe. In an hour you might be able to skip the traffic and fly to the other end of your country.

But this convenience comes at a cost….to the climate. Aviation accounts for somewhere between 2 to 5% of the world’s emissions. And as the world’s desire to travel proves insatiable, the number of planes in the sky each day is only increasing.

The aviation industry has aspirational plans to decarbonise using sustainable and/or synthetic aviation fuels. But these are currently some way off. In the meantime, airlines are offering carbon offsets.

Offsets are controversial products and only 1% of passengers pay for them. So, this week on The Climate Question we are asking, can flying ever be climate friendly?

Presenters Neal Razzell and Merlyn Thomas speak with the following contributors:

Jo Dardenne, Aviation Director at Transport & Environment

Souparna Lahiri, Climate Policy Advisor with The Global Forest Coalition

Simon Berrow, Chief Executive Officer of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group

Joana Setzer, Assistant Professor at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change & the Environment, LSE

Special thanks to Helen Coffey, author of Zero Altitude: How I learned to fly less and travel more

Sebastian Mikosz of the International Air Transport Association (IATA)

The team this week:

Reporters: Peter O’Connell in Kilrush on the west coast of Ireland

Researcher: Louise Parry & Immy Rhodes

Producer: Dearbhail Starr

Series Producer: Alex Lewis

Production Coordinators: Iona Hammond & Siobhan Reed

Editor: Richard Vadon

Sound Magician: Tom Brignell

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By BBC World Service

4.4

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