MPs welcome inclusion of aviation and shipping emissions in climate targets

The chair of Parliament’s Transport Committee has welcomed a ministerial letter setting out how the government intends to strengthen its approach to cutting emissions from aviation and shipping, including formally bringing the sectors within future carbon budgets.

Image: Parliament.uk

In correspondence published 22 April, Climate Minister Katie White confirmed that the government has put forward legislation to include the UK’s share of international aviation and shipping emissions within its statutory climate targets. The move follows advice from the Climate Change Committee and is intended to ensure the sectors are fully reflected in long-term decarbonisation planning.

The minister wrote that the statutory instrument will “formally include the UK’s share of international aviation and international shipping (IAIS) emissions in the Sixth Carbon Budget (2033–37), all subsequent carbon budgets, and the net zero target”.

She added that while the change “does not change the level of the UK’s currently legislated climate targets”, it ensures emissions from the sectors will be “accounted for consistently, alongside all other major sources of emissions, as part of the UK’s whole-economy approach to net zero between 2033 and 2050”.

Ruth Cadbury, who chairs the Transport Committee, said the inclusion of international aviation and shipping emissions marked a significant step in improving transparency and accountability in how transport emissions are measured, though the committee has previously raised concerns about the pace of progress in reducing them.

Aviation and maritime transport are among the most difficult sectors to decarbonise, and the government’s approach reflects a broader shift toward integrating these sectors into economy-wide climate policy.

Previous frameworks treated international aviation and shipping separately from domestic emissions targets, but the new rules aim to align them with the UK’s legally binding carbon budgets under the Climate Change Act.

The change is expected to influence future policy development across both sectors and signals that government departments will need to account for emissions from these sectors more directly when designing transport strategies, potentially affecting decisions on airport expansion, port infrastructure and freight logistics.