Report of Manchester City Council, Manchester Airports Group, Centre for Aviation and Transport Emissions, Manchester Climate Change Agency

This report provides a further update to the Committee on emissions from Manchester Airport and aviation. Three separate updates are appended to the report. The first is from MAG which provides an update on their work to decarbonise their ground operations and flights to and from Manchester Airport. The second is a report from the Centre for Aviation and Transport Emissions (CATE) based at Manchester Metropolitan University on estimating the scale and impact of non-CO₂ aviation emissions on climate. The third is a University of Manchester report commissioned by the Manchester Climate Change Agency and Partnership which seeks to estimate the aviation related CO² emissions from flights taken by Manchester residents.

The Committee considered the report of the Manchester City Council, Manchester Airports Group, Centre for Aviation and Transport and Environment, Manchester Climate Change Agency that provided an update on emissions from Manchester Airport and aviation.

Key points and themes in the report included:

·         Discussion of the Council’s role in relation to reducing aviation emissions via its shareholder relationship to Manchester Airports Group (MAG) who own and operate three UK airports including Manchester Airport, its membership of Manchester Climate Change Partnership and as an employer;

·         An update from MAG which provided information on their work to decarbonise their ground operations and flights to and from Manchester Airport;

·         A report from the Centre for Aviation, Transport and Environment (CATE) based at Manchester Metropolitan University on estimating the scale and impact of non-CO₂ aviation emissions on climate; and

·         A report from the University of Manchester who had been commissioned by the Manchester Climate Change Agency and Partnership which sought to estimate the aviation related CO² emissions from flights taken by Manchester residents. 

Some of the key points that arose from the Committee’s discussions were:

·         Challenging the continued narrative that the economic benefits of the airport outweighed the need to take immediate action to address the climate emergency;

·         Challenging the assertion that aviation emissions could be reduced by technology, asserting that this was largely untested and unproven;

·         There was no accompany carbon reduction action plan to report progress and key milestones;

·         Noting that there was a contradiction between using agricultural land and domestic waste to manufacture Sustainable Aviation Fuel when the wider message and intention was to reduce waste;

·         The need to reduce the number of flights taken, adding that the report appeared to celebrate an increase in passenger numbers;

·         The number of domestic flights needed to reduce, and people should use other forms of sustainable transport;

·         Criticising the cancellation of HS2 to Manchester; and

·         Challenging the assertion that an increase in the costs of flights due to the introduction of new technologies would reduce passenger numbers, adding that affluent people would continue to fly and the less well-off would be excluded.

Neil Robinson, CSR & Future Airspace Director, MAG stated that industry initiatives, such as increased efficiency in the use of aircraft and airspace would contribute to reducing emissions associated with the aviation industry. He said that Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) was a proven technology, and the challenge was now to produce this at scale to service the aviation industry. He said that there were plans to establish five production plants across the UK, with one of the servicing Manchester Airport directly. He further commented that existing generation of aircraft could use a minimum of 10% SAF. In terms of carbon savings, he said that this would be realised through the life cycle of SAF, namely in the manufacturing of SAF as opposed to kerosene. He further commented that the approach was consistent with the government’s Jet Zero strategy, the framework and plan for achieving net zero aviation by 2050 and was consistent with the national carbon budget. He commented that support of this strategy was reflected across the industry nationally. He also referred to hydrogen and electric technology, adding that this had previously not been included in plans, however as technological advances had been made these were now included. He further reiterated the economic impact of the airport for the city, noting that a report on this subject had been considered by the Economy and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee at their recent December meeting.

In response to the discussion relating to domestic flights, Neil Robinson, CSR & Future Airspace Director, MAG stated that analysis of these indicated that the majority of these journeys included crossing a body of water and would require an alternative journey in excess of four hours.

Dr Bethan Owen, Research Fellow at Centre for Aviation, Transport and the Environment (CATE) stated that that the aviation industry was a global industry, and it was important to consider this topic in terms of an international context and that global action was the best way to address aviation emissions.

The Head of City Policy stated that MAG was a member of the Climate Change Partnership and MAG were leading on the issue aviation emissions at a national and international level. He further commented that the 10 Greater Manchester Local Authorities shareholding resulted in places on the Board at MAG which facilitated challenge and conversations on this issue. He further commented that it was important to acknowledge that the airport was carbon neutral in in relation to its ground operations and has committed to being zero carbon by 2038.

The Director of Manchester Climate Change Agency reiterated the role of the Partnership to bring stakeholders together to encourage and facilitate action to tackle the climate emergency.

The Executive Member for Environment and Transport acknowledged the strength of feeling expressed by the Committee and said that consideration would be given as to how best to present and report this topic to future meetings of the Committee.

Decision

To note the report.