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Wed 25 Jun 2025
Aviation now contributes a greater share of total UK emissions than the entire electricity supply sector, putting future climate change targets at risk, a report has found.
The Climate Change Committee (CCC), which acts as an advisory body to the government, said that domestic emissions have now fallen by more than half (50.4%) compared with 1990 levels.
The pace of reduction has more than doubled since the introduction of the Climate Change Act in 2008. But progress to date has been primarily driven by decarbonisation of the electricity system, with renewables replacing both coal and, increasingly, gas.
Aviation is a much more difficult sector to abate emissions from and consumers have embraced more frequent air travel in recent years. Due to these factors, the sector now contributes more carbon emissions domestically than electricity production, the CCC said in a report.
The share of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) as a proportion of all jet fuel used in UK aviation has increased from 0.7% in 2023 to 2.1% in 2024. But this must increase further to reach the 10% required by the UK SAF Mandate by 2030. Given the current trajectory, the CCC believes the sector could pose a risk to the UK meeting its long-term emissions targets.
Meanwhile, the future of low-carbon aviation is uncertain – there is a range of technologies being pursued such as electric- or hydrogen-powered aircraft, but they are all at an early stage of development.
Therefore, the report suggests that the government may need to take “demand management measures” if aviation sector emissions are not developing in line with net zero goals. This could include increased taxes on aviation in general, or a frequent flyer tax imposed on those who regularly use planes in order to persuade them to adopt other means of transport.
Overall, emissions have dropped 2.5% since 2023, which marks the 10th consecutive year of sustained reductions, excluding the Covid-19 pandemic years 2020 and 2021.
The reductions achieved in 2024 were driven by the electricity supply and industry sectors, with the UK’s last coal-fired electricity power station, Ratcliffe-on-Soar, closing in October 2024.
“Previous governments invested in low-carbon technologies in their early, relatively expensive stages. Now we have the opportunity to build on these early investments and realise the benefits of falling costs,” the CCC concluded.
“Future progress will require a broader change, especially using low-carbon electricity to replace oil and gas in surface transport, heat in buildings and industry, alongside nature-based solutions such as tree planting and engineered removals.”
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