197 countries signed the UN climate convention in 1992. Nevertheless, many of these have not reported emission figures from aviation. For the first time, researchers have calculated the climate emissions from aviation for all countries. They have considered approximately 40 million flights from 2019 and used big data to calculate climate emissions. – We have found that the real CO2 emissions from the world’s aviation are approximately 50 per cent higher than what has been reported to the UN, says climate researcher Helene Muri. She is one of three NTNU researchers behind the study. An overview of flights in Europe in real time with the flight monitoring service Flightradar24. Photo: Screenshot from Flightradar24 The total CO2 emissions from air traffic were 911 million tonnes this year, according to the study. But only 604 million tonnes were reported to the UN. – This is quite important. It is one thing to understand the total emissions from aviation worldwide. But it is also useful for individual countries to know how much they emit, says Muri. That way, it will be easier for the countries to know where and how to cut emissions, she believes. Several large ones did not report. She says that there are several reasons why the difference between the reported and the real numbers is so great. – Many countries have not reported emission figures at all, because it is not so easy to quantify them. Simply not all countries have the resources to do this, says Muri. Climate researcher Helene Muri. Photo: Stig Larsæther / NTNU She points out that they have used big data and advanced methods in the study. At the same time, several countries have chosen not to report emission figures. – For example, large countries such as China and India, which have had very high emissions, says Muri. The study shows, among other things, that China is number two in the world in terms of emissions from aviation. They did not report emissions figures in 2019. China is only behind the USA, which has by far the world’s largest emissions from the air. They account for approximately 13 percent of emissions, while China accounts for around 9 percent. The reason why China could refrain from reporting emission figures is because the UN climate convention was signed in 1992, where only high-income countries were required to report emissions. For 155 other countries it is voluntary, including China. The rules for reporting are still based on the economic status at the time, which climate researcher at Cicero, Borgar Aamaas, believes is problematic. Climate scientist at Cicero, Borgar Aamaas. Photo: Cicero – The rules were meant to spare countries with far fewer resources. China should have the capacity to calculate the emissions itself now. Aamaas says this finding will have an effect on the math that is the two-degree target. – You can say that the “budget” becomes smaller when the emissions turn out to be greater. So, it is thought provoking that not everything is included. Norwegians in third place Norway had a total CO2 emission from aviation of approximately 4.5 million tonnes in 2019. That puts us in 34th place of all the countries in the study. Norwegians are nevertheless in third place for climate emissions from aviation per capita. We are only behind the USA and Australia. – It was surprising. We had expected that Norway would be high here, but not so high, says Muri. Several planes lined up at Oslo Airport Gardermoen. Photo: Fredrik Varfjell / NTB Much of our domestic aviation emissions originate from flights between the big cities, such as Oslo, Bergen, Stavanger and Trondheim. – It says something about how we can try to work on reducing emissions. On these stretches, you can, for example, take the train, thereby reducing much of the emissions, says Muri. It is nevertheless flights between Oslo and Tromsø that account for the largest emissions, with 12.2 per cent of aviation emissions for domestic traffic. Aamaas says the figures are not surprising, and places much of the blame on Norway’s geography. He does not believe there is any quick fix to this problem. – Other similar countries in Europe have developed the train network much better than we have, but again, it depends a little on geography. We are a long country with many mountains, he says. He still believes that emissions can actually be reduced, and points to planes that run on biofuel and electric planes – but it will take a few years before the technology catches up with today’s consumption. The short-haul network in Norway only accounts for 5 percent of domestic emissions. – So that’s not necessarily where we have to start cutting. We need to understand how much we emit and where the emissions occur in order to convert to green aviation, says Muri. Published 24.06.2024, at 22.45
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Climate emissions from airplanes are much higher than reported – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
