"UK policy body wants health warnings on flights"

Thursday, April 5, 2007

UK policy body wants health warnings on flights   
By Jeremy Lovell


LONDON (Reuters) - Advertisements for flights, or holidays that include
flying, should carry a tobacco-style health warning to remind people of the
global warming crisis, a leading British think-tank said on Thursday.

Using the traditional Easter holiday getaway to highlight the issue, the
Institute for Public Policy Research said such health warnings would make
people think twice about the impact their journey would have on the
environment.

"The evidence that aviation damages the atmosphere is just as clear as the
evidence that smoking kills," IPPR climate change chief Simon Retallack
said.

"We know that smokers notice health warnings on cigarettes, and we have to
tackle our addiction to flying in the same way," he added, calling for
clearly visible warnings such as "flying causes climate change."

Scientists predict that global average temperatures will rise by between 1.8
and 4.0 degrees Celsius this century, mainly due to burning fossil fuels for
power and transport, putting millions of lives at risk from floods, famines
and storms.

Environmental campaigners say emissions of climate warming carbon gases at
high altitude are more than twice as damaging as those at ground level and
that people should be deterred from flying where alternatives are available.

Although flying currently contributes relatively little to the sum total of
carbon emissions, the industry is booming and its emissions are expected to
double or triple in coming years.

"If we are to change people's behavior, warnings must be accompanied by
offering people alternatives to short-haul flights and by steps to make the
cost of flying better reflect its impact on the environment," Retallack
said.

The IPPR called for the health warnings to carry detailed information on the
amount of carbon dioxide each flight would emit per passenger and, where
relevant, compare it with alternative means of transport like trains.

To go alongside that, IPPR called for increases in aviation taxation to
deter air travel and for carbon offsetting -- buying surplus emission
certificates from elsewhere -- to become an automatic part of the flight
ticket.

The British government has come in for harsh criticism from
environmentalists for promoting rather than trying to rein in surging air
travel, refusing to tax air fuel in the same way as road fuel and putting
only token taxes on passengers.

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