Airline tickets should have environmental warning, say Tories

Airline passengers would be told how much their flight would contribute to global warming under Conservative plans to reduce greenhouse emissions.

Airline passengers would be told how much their flight would contribute to global warming under Conservative plans to reduce greenhouse emissions.

On the eve of the implementation today of the Kyoto targets to tackle climate change, Tim Yeo, the shadow Environment Secretary, said tickets should state what impact the journey would have on the environment. Presenting Tory climate change policy, Mr Yeo said the EU should include all flights from European airports in its carbon emissions targets as part of tougher measures to tackle the problem.

The Tories would not back an aviation fuel tax until there was international agreement, he said. But he told The Independent: "We must make sure that that aviation gets into the carbon trading scheme as soon as possible. I think it would get the public more engaged in this. Only one in eight make the connection between flying and global warming. We have to change that."

Tony Blair has made climate change a priority for Britain's chairmanship of the G7 but was humiliated on Monday when the EU Commission ruled that Britain's plans to curb greenhouse gases were illegal, and accused the Government of breaking a deal on Britain's ceiling for carbon dioxide emissions.

Mr Yeo also called for a colour coding system for car tax discs to show how much each vehicle produces in carbon dioxide emissions. That could help to increase pressure on families to buy cleaner cars, he said.

The shadow Environment Secretary met the Permanent Secretary at the Department for Transport last week under the general election rules that allow members of the Opposition to brief civil servants on their priorities for a possible change of government. Mr Yeo said he ordered an urgent reappraisal of speed limits at accident black spots and for a crackdown on irresponsible drivers.

* Charles Kennedy, the Liberal Democrat leader, has written to Mr Blair seeking a cross-party consensus on climate change. He called on the Government to support tougher targets including 20 per cent of electricity from renewable energy by 2020 and 50 per cent by 2050.