UNITED KINGDOM
New research has found that more than half of United Kingdom Government Departments are missing their own targets to cut the number of flights they use.
Since 2016, Departments have been required to reduce the number of domestic flights taken by staff and Ministers as part of the Greening Government initiative.
This is because shorter flights have a much greater environmental impact per person than long-haul flights, as the take-off and landing stages of a flight are the most inefficient.
Of the 16 Departments set the targets, just six are on track to reduce flights by at least 30 per cent from the 2009-10 baseline.
Three Departments have even seen an overall increase in flights, with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport almost doubling its use of air travel over the last decade.
Most Departments are actually moving further from hitting their target, with 11 out of 16 experiencing an increase in flights between 2017-18 and 2018-19.
The Department for Exiting the European Union, which was created after the targets were set, saw the biggest year-on-year increase with a 105 per cent rise in flight numbers.
The worst offenders in terms of number of flights last year were HM Revenue and Customs, which took 35,162 domestic flights; the Ministry of Defence which took 24,003 administrative flights; and the Home Office, which took 14,372 flights.
The Departments have until the end of the 2019-20 financial year to reach their targets.
The news has attracted criticism from climate campaigners, who have called on the Government to do more to invest in public transport.
A Government spokesperson said it remained committed to tackling climate change.
London, 7 February 2020
