Heathrow aviation campaign

This week environmental campaigners gather at Heathrow. Many of them seem to feel that all flying is bad. Of course that's wrong, but no more wrong that our Government who continue to plan for a doubling of UK flights (which flies in the face of Co2 reduction targets). The debate is raging at the extremes but the answers lie in the middle with a steady reduction in flights and an increase in responsible tourism.

Travel & tourism directly and indirectly accounts for one in eight jobs globally (WTO). Tourism is growing fastest in developing countries, who are more dependent on tourism than the developed world.

Many developing countries see responsible tourism as a tool for poverty reduction as it has very high linkages to local economies (in fact the second highest of any industry). Much of the world's natural and cultural heritage is supported by tourism (although some mass tourism contributes to its destruction).

Justin Francis, co-founder of responsibletravel.com says: "Based on the above if we were to stop flying altogether then there would be very major global recession, and I'd argue it would be far harder for Government and industry to invest in renewables and new greener technologies that are needed if we are to globally reduce emissions.

"However Government plans to expand airports to cope with a doubling of air traffic is insane - not only because we need to be flying less rather than more, but even senior people in the aviation industry do not think the industry will expand that fast.. "

Our campaign here at responsibletravel.com will be to continue targeting Government for a coherent strategy to reduce flying in line with overall Co2 reduction targets. This means the cost of flying needs to go up through taxation or enforced emission trading schemes, and any tax revenues need to be transparently hypothecated to low carbon initiatives. The scheme should provide incentives to greener airlines, and avoid taxing some carefully defined long haul destinations that are highly dependent on tourism out of the market.

We also urgently need to understand the NET Co2 impact of our holidays (not just the flight). We now know that its lower carbon buy roses flown in from Kenya rather than those from Holland. The reason is that the low energy production methods associated with producing roses in Kenya more than compensates for the additional CO2 resulting from flying them here.

Likewise when you swap your high energy life in the UK (heating a large house, daily car use, high food miles...) for a lower energy life on holiday (depending very much on the type of holiday but possibly no heating, no transport, 100% local food) you save CO2 each day you are away.

I'm not suggesting that flying off on holiday is lower carbon than staying at home (although in some extreme cases that we've looked at it is * ) but I am saying that we cannot accurately calculate how much less we need to fly until we do.

Finally, responsibletravel.com will continue to lobby for more responsible tourism that reduces local environmental impacts and increases benefits to local people. If you do decide to fly, you need to make sure you book a responsible holiday...

In summary, responsibletravel.com is calling on the Government to:

• Increase the cost of flying through either emission trading schemes or taxation to a level sufficient to start reducing the number of flights taken annually
• Ensure tax revenues are transparently hypothecated to low carbon initiatives
• Offer incentives to encourage airlines to be greener and create more fuel efficient planes
• Only expand airport capacity when there is a real need based on current customer numbers

responsibletravel.com is also calling on travellers to make more responsible travel choices where possible:

• Reduce the number of flights you take each year. Instead, take the train to European destinations and consider UK based eco-holidays
• Take fewer short breaks by air. Shorter flights and multiple stop-overs are more polluting per passenger mile than longer flights as take-off and landings generate a significant part of the total emissions per flight. Try to take fewer, longer holidays instead
• Try and avoid internal flights within a destination - use local public transport where possible
• If you do fly, opt for a responsible holiday that respects, benefits and helps to conserve local communities, customs and environments
• Offset the carbon emissions of your flight through a company such as www.climatecare.org
• Demand that our politicians take action (see above) Make other changes in your day-to-day life to reduce your overall carbon emissions

If you prefer not fly to your holiday, try our lower carbon travel section, or alternatively search our entire range of  responsible holidays here . If you want to share your views on this article, you can add your comments to Justin's blog here .