Runways put green targets out of reach

Government targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions will be "impossible" to meet if ministers stick to plans for huge airport expansion, Tony Blair's key green adviser warned today.

Sir Jonathon Porritt said plans to cut CO2 emissions by 60per cent by 2050 would fail if the Department of Transport went ahead with proposals to build new runways at Heathrow and elsewhere.

His remarks came as Ken Livingstone issued his own warning that the "body count" from climate change disasters would be higher than recent wars unless George Bush was removed from the White House.

In an interview with the Evening Standard, the Mayor of London said the US President was "threatening all life on this planet" because of his refusal to sign the Kyoto treaty to cut greenhouse gases.

The boss of oil giant Shell also warned today that there was "very little hope for the world" unless urgent action was taken to tackle climate change. Sir Jonathon, chairman of the Sustainable Development Commission, issued a blunt warning in a report calling for urgent action to deal with the climate change caused by aircraft emissions.

A report by the commission published today even called on the Treasury to levy an emissions charge on all European flights pending incorporation.

Sir Jonathon said there was a conflict between the department's Air Transport White Paper, published last December, and the Government's strategic commitment to dealing with climate change. Greenhouse gases, the main cause of climate change, are increasing due to the huge increase in air travel.

The Air Transport White Paper anticipates as many as 400 million people passing through UK airports by 2020 and 500 million by 2030. The figure today is less than 200 million.

Ron Oxburgh, Shell's chairman, said a way had to be found to prevent carbon dioxide emissions from entering the atmosphere.

He said that he was "really very worried for the planet" because the West was unlikely to persuade China and India not to burn huge stocks of coal.