Rishi Sunak is failing to deliver one of the UK’s flagship green policies, reports the Telegraph quoting the chief executive of British Airways’ parent company.
Time is running out!
In a rare intervention, Luis Gallego, chief executive of International Airlines Group (IAG), says Britain has fallen behind the US in the production of green aviation fuels because of Government inaction.
Writing in the Telegraph, Mr Gallego said “time is running out” for the UK as America establishes a lead by virtue of billions of dollars of White House subsidies.
“If there isn’t enough of these alternative fuels to go around, which at the moment there isn’t, UK aviation’s net zero ambition is put at risk,” he said.
“Jet Zero” was one of 10 commitments made in November 2020 under Boris Johnson’s £12bn programme to deliver a “green industrial revolution”. The Government’s 10-point plan said: “Moving to sustainable fuels is one of the key steps to success that we can unlock.”
Net zero aviation by 2050?
A strategy for reaching net zero aviation by 2050 was subsequently published last summer. However, the industry is increasingly concerned by the laissez-faire attitude in Westminster towards funding SAF.
Mr Gallego’s concerns are shared by John Holland-Kaye, the chief executive of Heathrow airport. He told the Telegraph: “Britain is being leapfrogged by the US and Europe in the race to scale-up SAF production and unless we act fast, we’ll lose out on the huge prize this new sector can deliver for UK plc.”
“The Government says it is chasing economic growth, that it needs to decarbonise to hit net zero and that the UK needs to keep better control of its energy supplies in the future. That’s exactly what creating a domestic SAF industry delivers. The Government needs to get out of the changing room and join the race.”
The aviation industry is the latest sector to sound the alarm over the direction of Government policy, amid concerns about long-term growth.
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Source: The Telegraph
