Lawyers acting for climate change charity Possible have written to the Chancellor warning that providing bailouts for airlines without conditions to protect the climate would leave the government open to legal challenge.

UK Law firm, Leigh Day, sent a legal letter to the Chancellor today to inform the government that any support packages for airlines must come with requirements to reduce emissions in line with the UK’s net-zero by 2050 target...

The legal letter from Possible is supported by other NGOs, including Flight Free UK and the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE).

Possible is calling for any public support provided to airlines to include the following conditions:

• All aviation industry employees must receive at least the Real Living Wage for the duration of the crisis, and there must be a commitment to avoid lay-offs. Appropriate support must be provided for workers to transition to low-carbon industries.
• Airlines must be prevented from diverting bailout funds to dividends or share buybacks...
• Airlines must be required to adopt short-term emissions reductions targets which are in line with the Paris Agreement. They must also explain how they will meet those targets, without relying on offsets or other measures which do not sufficiently reduce climate impacts...