Christchurch Airports plan for a new runway at Tarras has a fresh set of opponents: professors concerned it would fatally undermine climate goals.
In 2020, Christchurch Airport announced it had purchased 750 hectares near the picturesque Central Otago town of Tarras, an hours drive from Queenstown.
Residents were surprised. Some plan to contest the proposal, with one farmer refusing to sell a parcel of land critical to the project. Eleven academics from climate scientists and tourism researchers to Mori and indigenous studies leaders are lending their voices to the fight, publishing an open letter.
The runway would be big enough to serve wide-bodied jets, allowing long-haul flights in and out of the airport. Long-haul air travel produces lots of climate-warming gases on top of water vapour that heats the atmosphere.
The open letter was sent to Christchurch Airport, but also new Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, his deputy Carmel Sepuloni, Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger, Christchurch councillors and Otago councillors.
The council owns a 75% share in Christchurch Airport, with the remaining shares owned by the Crown.
The letter noted that both owners had declared climate emergencies. We therefore urge you in the strongest possible terms to put a stay on the Central Otago Airport proposal.
The airport would create additional flights, the academics said. The design left enough room for the airport to expand its operations after it opened. This approach is fundamentally at odds with the urgent need to halve carbon emissions by 2030 in accordance with Paris 2015 climate commitments.
The academics said they were not anti-airport, anti-aviation, anti-business or anti-development.
As well as setting domestic climate goals, the Government adopted a global goal for net-zero aviation emissions by mid-century. Building a new airport catering to conventional wide-body jet aircraft would fatally undermine this goal, the professors said.
Prototype electric passenger planes have completed test flights, and can travel shorter distances. But zero-carbon planes are not yet available to airlines, and face enormous technical challenges, the letter argued.
New Zealanders have high per-capita aviation emissions, the academics said.
Government is asking others such as the farming sector, the public sector and the energy sector to take urgent and major steps to curb emissions.
Signatory James Higham said it would be morally wrong to build the airport. Given the available research and data, and there is plenty of it, it makes no sense whatsoever to build a new airport at Tarras or anywhere else in New Zealand for that matter.
The group will publish a collection of research, to back up the points raised in their letter, Higham said.
The letter was signed by:
Professor Jonathan Boston, Emeritus Professor of Public Policy, Victoria University
Professor James Higham, Professor of Sustainable Tourism, University of Otago
Professor Bronwyn Hayward, Director of The Sustainable Citizenship and Civic Imagination Research Group, University of Canterbury
Professor Shaun Hendy, Centre for Science and Society, Victoria University
Distinguished Professor Robert McLachlan, School of Mathematical and Computational Sciences, Massey University
Professor Ilan Noy, Chair in the Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Victoria University
Professor Steven Ratuva, Director of the MacMillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies, University of Canterbury
Professor James Renwick, Professor of Physical Geography, Victoria University
Distinguished Professor Dame Anne Salmond, Mori Studies, University of Auckland
Professor Huhana Smith, Head of Whiti o Rehua School of Art, Massey University
Professor Anita Wreford, Agribusiness & Economics Research Unit, Lincoln University
Christchurch Airport, Christchurch City Council and State-owned Enterprises Minister David Clark were all contacted for comment.
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In 2020, Christchurch Airport announced it had purchased 750 hectares near the picturesque Central Otago town of Tarras, an hours drive from Queenstown.
Residents were surprised. Some plan to contest the proposal, with one farmer refusing to sell a parcel of land critical to the project. Eleven academics from climate scientists and tourism researchers to Mori and indigenous studies leaders are lending their voices to the fight, publishing an open letter.
The runway would be big enough to serve wide-bodied jets, allowing long-haul flights in and out of the airport. Long-haul air travel produces lots of climate-warming gases on top of water vapour that heats the atmosphere.
The open letter was sent to Christchurch Airport, but also new Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, his deputy Carmel Sepuloni, Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger, Christchurch councillors and Otago councillors.
The council owns a 75% share in Christchurch Airport, with the remaining shares owned by the Crown.
The letter noted that both owners had declared climate emergencies. We therefore urge you in the strongest possible terms to put a stay on the Central Otago Airport proposal.
The airport would create additional flights, the academics said. The design left enough room for the airport to expand its operations after it opened. This approach is fundamentally at odds with the urgent need to halve carbon emissions by 2030 in accordance with Paris 2015 climate commitments.
The academics said they were not anti-airport, anti-aviation, anti-business or anti-development.
As well as setting domestic climate goals, the Government adopted a global goal for net-zero aviation emissions by mid-century. Building a new airport catering to conventional wide-body jet aircraft would fatally undermine this goal, the professors said.
Prototype electric passenger planes have completed test flights, and can travel shorter distances. But zero-carbon planes are not yet available to airlines, and face enormous technical challenges, the letter argued.
New Zealanders have high per-capita aviation emissions, the academics said.
Government is asking others such as the farming sector, the public sector and the energy sector to take urgent and major steps to curb emissions.
Signatory James Higham said it would be morally wrong to build the airport. Given the available research and data, and there is plenty of it, it makes no sense whatsoever to build a new airport at Tarras or anywhere else in New Zealand for that matter.
The group will publish a collection of research, to back up the points raised in their letter, Higham said.
The letter was signed by:
Professor Jonathan Boston, Emeritus Professor of Public Policy, Victoria University
Professor James Higham, Professor of Sustainable Tourism, University of Otago
Professor Bronwyn Hayward, Director of The Sustainable Citizenship and Civic Imagination Research Group, University of Canterbury
Professor Shaun Hendy, Centre for Science and Society, Victoria University
Distinguished Professor Robert McLachlan, School of Mathematical and Computational Sciences, Massey University
Professor Ilan Noy, Chair in the Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Victoria University
Professor Steven Ratuva, Director of the MacMillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies, University of Canterbury
Professor James Renwick, Professor of Physical Geography, Victoria University
Distinguished Professor Dame Anne Salmond, Mori Studies, University of Auckland
Professor Huhana Smith, Head of Whiti o Rehua School of Art, Massey University
Professor Anita Wreford, Agribusiness & Economics Research Unit, Lincoln University
Christchurch Airport, Christchurch City Council and State-owned Enterprises Minister David Clark were all contacted for comment.
Our weekly email newsletter, by the Forever Project's Olivia Wannan, rounds up the latest climate events. Sign up here.
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