THE world’s population has not been given “a spare planet” by God, a bishop said throughout the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill debate within the House of Lords last week.
Introducing the session, the Rail Minister, Lord Hendy, described the “huge economic advantages for the broader low-carbon fuels industry” of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and the UK’s initiatives “to decarbonise aviation”.
The Bishop of Chester, the Rt Revd Mark Tanner, then rose to offer his maiden speech throughout the first half-hour. “I confess that sustainable aviation fuel was not a subject that I imagined I could be addressing when various noble Lords have given me advice about maiden speeches,” he began. “They said I could be working with high-flyers . . . that not every little thing was rocket science. Sustainability matters: the nice Lord provided us with many things, but a spare planet was not amongst them, a minimum of on this age.”
He referred to “this balance of pragmatisms” and the “must be real about air travel being vital to modern life. It builds community, enables encounter, and crosses divides.” One such example was “Manchester Airport, where one actually lands within the diocese of Chester but disembarks within the diocese of Manchester”.
He said that “air travel does greater than construct community: it enables partnership and commerce. It is a crucial a part of the defence of our nation, as I witnessed when offering chaplaincy to our Armed Forces.” At the identical time, “its environmental impact should be addressed. This signifies that Net Zero matters, nevertheless it just isn’t the one sustainability consideration.”
He welcomed the “creation of an economic framework by which SAF becomes a viable investment”, but warned that “by itself, the Bill doesn’t do nearly enough.” He spoke out for investment “in rail and in environmental road transport” and “timescales for substantive provision of third-generation SAF”: “Our infrastructure must line up with our fundamental identity and core vocation if we’re to thrive.”
A former Transport Secretary, Lord Grayling (Conservative), said that the “aviation industry is under growing pressure over its carbon footprint” and it was subject to “flight shaming” from younger customers. “Our aviation sector is . . . a key a part of our economy: it’s the strongest sector in Europe; it is prime to our regions and to the economy of so many various parts of the country.” He urged the Government “to encourage serious investment here”.
Lord Berkeley (Labour) desired to link the Bill to housing and domestic fuel with “a win-win solution for aviation and residential heating”. For the Green Party’s Baroness Jones, the Government’s “goals for a greener, cleaner future for aviation” were “a really noble aim, but . . . not possible unless we radically rethink how we’re going to take care of it”.
Viscount Trenchard (Conservative) was concerned that “the effect of the Bill is to distort the marketplace for sustainable aviation fuel” and that “the price of this distortion can be borne ultimately by consumers”. For Viscount Hanworth (Labour), the Bill was “a weak proposal for addressing a crisis”.
“We on the Liberal Democrat Benches welcome these steps to decarbonise our aviation industry, including investment in sustainable aviation fuels,” Baroness Pidgeon said. “However, we see SAF as just step one: we would like it to supply an actual low-carbon alternative.”
Many of the speakers praised the Bishop of Chester’s first remarks within the Lords.
In summing up, Lord Hendy said that he agreed with Bishop Tanner “that sustainability matters” and that he was “sorry about his train service” where there have been often delays. “The Bill will kick-start the UK SAF industry, attracting investment and creating jobs,” he concluded. “By addressing the market and investment uncertainty in SAF production, it would enable the UK to guide the technique to greener aviation.”
Having been read a second time, the Bill will return to the Lords on 10 December, for the Committee Stage.
