Note: Much of the information in this blog has been taken from this article in the Bristol Post by Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer, although I've re-written it in my own words.
At Cop27 in Egypt, the Secretary-General of the UN, António Guterres, warned that 'we are on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator'.
It probably isn't necessary for me to outline exactly how and why that's the case because I think most people already know it all (although if you don't, there's tons of information online if you can bear to read it). From what I've seen, Cop27 is shaping up to be just like Cop26 - less action on fossil fuels, lots of talks of 'historic' agreements and a lot more of what Greta Thunberg calls 'blah blah blah'.
I want to talk about something more immediate, which is the proposed expansion of Bristol Airport. I live in Bristol and have flown from Bristol Airport in the past (although, apart from once in an emergency, I have not flown since 2015 as I cannot ethically justify it in the middle of a climate crisis). Bristol Airport has been pushing to expand its capacity for four years now, there have been campaigns to stop this from happening from the beginning and in 2020, North Somerset Council listened to the objection and rejected the planning application.
This was then overturned by the Government's Planning Inspectorate (which, incidentally, demonstrates how little power local councils have these days over corporations... corporations know how to play the game, they'll appeal up to the top of Government and the top of Government tends to side with them over locals and elected officials). In early November, an appeal was heard at Bristol Civil Justice Centre arguing that errors were made in the Planning Inspectorate's criteria, and the result of that is still awaiting. I took part in a protest outside the courtroom on the first day of the hearing - I was actually part of a choir of singers to raise awareness of this issue.
This campaign really matters, for a number of reasons. Firstly, it sets a precedent. There are many other airports in the UK looking to expand their output, who are eagerly awaiting the outcome of this particular case in the event that it helps to justify their own expansion. Secondly, it says something about Bristol's role as a city. In 2018, Bristol was the first city in Europe to publicly declare a climate emergency, thanks in no small part to local councillor (and now Green co-leader) Carla Denyer. I'm really proud of the conscientiousness of many of the people here in Bristol, I think it's something that much of the rest of the UK could learn from and I hope we can lead from the front in saying 'No more airport expansion' - not just here, but across the rest of the country and the world at large.
Finally though, I'd like to address the obvious discrepancy between the way we talk about transport in general. The idea of the 'personal carbon footprint', which was quite prevalent when I was growing up, has pretty much been debunked now. As I said above, I've only flown once since 2015 - but sometimes I think that the only thing this has really achieved has been avoidance of my own guilt. Save for exceptional circumstances I will not fly again until I'm sure that we've dealt with the worst of the damage and that flying can be morally justified (if that's ever the case, that is) - but is anyone truly better off as a result of me making that decision? I don't think so. I think the same number of flights have gone over the last seven years as they otherwise would have, which is quite dejecting.
This is because we emphasise two things at once which are impossible to square with one another. We encourage people to fly less often - and yet we also promote unregulated growth, which means increasing numbers of flights going. These two things are impossible to work together. Airports do not meet demand; they create demand. To truly deal with the pollution caused by air travel, we need to agree internationally that only a certain number of flights are allowed to go per year, and stick to this. If we did that, it would be easier for people to go on holiday, guilt-free. There's nothing wrong with taking the odd flight; the planet can cope with your occasional foreign holiday. What it can't cope with is the super-rich buzzing around on their private jets every week.
It's the scale of this problem we need to sort out - and this is why Bristol Airport must not be allowed to expand.
I'd also like to express my concern with the fact that damaging the environment is not in itself illegal. The case being heard in court is purely in relation to errors being made in the Government Inspectorate's process - nothing to do with the enormous amount of damage that airport expansion would cause. The latter seems to me to be far more important, and it seems that our laws are out of touch when it comes to protecting our collective home.
If you're worried about climate breakdown and its effects, I very highly recommend the YouTube channel ClimateAdam. Dr Adam Levy is a climate scientist, and very good at explaining what's happening and how you can help, in a way that is neither too complacent nor too despairing. I've only discovered his channel quite recently, but I've found it so helpful to keep myself informed of things.
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