Ships and planes wipe out half emissions savings

We hear much about the pollution created by cars and lorries, but the growth in emissions from shipping and aviation will undo 43 per cent of the savings expected to be made by the rest of transport in Europe over the net 13 years. The result is that almost half the already-inadequate emissions savings expected in land transport will be negated by ships and planes, according to a new report by sustainable group Transport & Environment (T&E).

According to Bill Hemmings, aviation and shipping director at T&E: “Planes and ships are free riding at the expense of land transport’s already insufficient efforts to cut emissions. This is not only unfair but a roadblock to Europe meeting its own climate commitments. Governments need to think again and include shipping in the emissions trading system and strengthen its aviation provisions.”

Shipping emissions are totally unregulated and remain outside the EU’s emissions trading system (ETS).

Shipping CO₂ emissions can be reduced by 80 million tons by 2030 if the sector is included in the ETS, according to the European Commission. Legislation is already long overdue and the need to grows by the day - shipping is one of the fastest growing sources of transport emissions and is projected to account for 17 per cent of global emissions by 2050. However, the International Maritime Organisation has decided to delay by at least seven years any agreement on introducing a global measure to reduce greenhouse gases from the sector - implementation of any such agreement would most likely be many years further away. Aircraft CO₂ alone is projected to quadruple and account for 22% of all CO₂ emitted globally in 2050. A global agreement will see airlines in participating countries offset, but not reduce CO₂ emissions from aircraft, and on a voluntary basis.

Ethical insurance

The ETA has been voted the most ethical insurance company in Britain for the second year running by the Good Shopping Guide.

Beating household-name insurance companies such as John Lewis and the Co-op, the ETA earned an ethical company index score of 89.

The ETA was established in 1990 as an ethical provider of green, reliable travel services. Twenty six years on, it continues to offer cycle insurance, travel insurance and breakdown cover while putting concern for the environment at the heart of all it does.