UK must be clearer about the carbon cost of flights, says aviation body

Lucy Thackray
Tue, 24 January 2023 

To fly or not to fly? UK air travellers are poorly informed, says CAA 

(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has launched a call for evidence on sustainable air travel, saying that consumers want to travel more sustainably, but are not clearly advised on the environmental impact of flying.

The industry body, which oversees and regulates aviation in the UK, published the call for evidence on 11 January, asking for insight on “what environmental information should be provided to people when they are looking for and booking flights” and “how that information can be presented in a way that is meaningful and enables people to make informed choices”.

In a statement, the authority said that consumers’ flight bookings do not tally with their professed commitment to more sustainable travel, and suggests that the UK implement clearer and more standardised information about the carbon cost of air travel.


Basing its view on its own 2021 study of consumer behaviour, the CAA said: “Consumers want more environmental information that they can trust about the impact of their flights on the environment.

“We know that there are many organisations, including airlines, international trade associations and internet flight search engines, working on different ways of providing such environmental information. However, there does not appear to be a standard approach to what information is provided or how it is presented.

“Passengers can find several different calculations of how much emissions a flight might produce (and their individual share of that total), with little or no explanation of why a flight on one airline appears to have a significantly different climate impact than another on the same route.”

Where there is carbon labelling or transparency about the impact of aviation’s damage to the environment, says the organisation, it can be unclear to the average traveller, and difficult to compare journeys.

“There is also little explanation of what the information means in practice,” says its analysis. “Most organisations present the information as ‘X kg CO2 per person per flight” but there is no comparator information to put this into context.

“This means that people cannot make fully informed decisions on their travel options or on whether they can take additional measures (such as offsetting) to reduce the impact of their flight [and] increases the risk that people will not trust the information and so ignore it.”

The concept of carbon labelling aims to clearly flag which journeys and modes of transport are most damaging to the planet, as well as highlighting options which may produce less carbon.

Some travel booking companies, such as Skyscanner, already underline flight options with lower-than-average carbon emissions, but the CAA is calling for a UK-wide, clear, standardised and regulated system for labelling air travel options at the booking stage.

‘Develop London with climate change in mind or suffer more flooding on Tube’

Rachael Burford
Tue, 24 January 2023 

Flooding in Stratford (Twitter/R0bday)

Concreting over London will cause further flooding of the Tube, the chief executive of the Environment Agency warned on Tuesday.

Sir James Bevan said that unless developments were designed with climate change in mind, the capital’s transport network would suffer during the increasingly heavy rainfall.

Basement flats were also particularly vulnerable to regular flooding in a warmer, wetter climate, Sir James said.

Parks should be built to act as “giant sponges” or grass planted on roofs “to allow rainwater to drain away gradually”, he said in a speech at Imperial College London.

He added: “As well as efforts to create better access to green space, our cities would have embedded sustainable drainage which increases the ability of our cities and their drainage systems to absorb large amounts of water when it rains.”

Flooding was seen across the capital in November (Ben Cawthra/LNP)

London’s transport network has been hit by flash flooding several times in the past few years.

Nine stations were closed in July 2021 due to heavy rain. Videos showed torrents of water submerging ticket barriers at Covent Garden and Pudding Mill DLR in Stratford.

In August last year sections of Victoria station along with Kentish Town and Holland Park Tube were shut due to a downpour.

The wet weather also impacted major roads, including Upper Street, Farringdon Road and Hyde Park Corner.

Dozens of homes were also flooded in east London when drains were unable to cope with the deluge of water.

While the city is no longer enveloped in the thick smog it saw during the 20th century, and wildlife has returned to the Thames in recent years after being declared “biologically dead” in the Fifties, Sir James argued there was still much that needed doing to make it resilient to climate change.

He pointed to developments such as the Olympic Park as “the urban environments of the future”.

“As our cities grow and our current drains reach full capacity, as we concrete over areas that used to act as natural drains, and as climate change brings us bigger and more violent rainfall, these schemes can make all the difference between basements, underpasses, city centres and Tube lines that are flooded and dangerous, and a city that just shrugs its shoulders, puts up its umbrellas, and keeps going.”

It comes as Mayor Sadiq Khan issued a high air pollution alert across London for today, with schools notified about the toxic air and signs displayed across TfL.

The capital has experienced moderate air pollution since Saturday as the cold and foggy conditions mean vehicle emissions disperse more slowly.

Mr Khan said people needed “to be careful” in the coming days to help the pollution dissipate.

The Evening Standard has backed “Ella’s Law”, a bill that will enshrine the human right to clean air in law.

The Clean Air (Human Rights) Bill is named after Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, the first person in the UK to have air pollution listed as a cause of death.

Today would have been her 19th birthday.

Bill Gates invests in cow gas climate start-up

Samuel Webb
Tue, 24 January 2023 

Bill Gates invests in cow gas climate start-up

An investment firm founded by tech mogul Bill Gates has invested in an Australian climate technology company that aims to reduce the methane produced by cows.

Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV), which was set up by the Microsoft co-founder in 2015, led a US$12 million funding round into Rumin8, which produces dietary supplements that reduce the emissions from livestock.

Gates has frequently spoken out about meat production’s impact on the climate crisis – animal farming accounts for an estimated 14.5% of all human-derived greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

The cash will be used to accelerate Rumin8’s road to commercialisation.

“The demand for sustainable protein has never been more apparent, which is why BEV is keenly interested in reducing methane emissions from beef and dairy,” said Carmichael Roberts, BEV.

“Rumin8 offers a low cost, scalable toolbox that has already proven to be effective in reducing emissions. Our team will support Rumin8 in working closely with farmers to expand the reach of this solution globally.”

Rumin8 scientists have run trials that show red seaweed reduces emissions from cattle, and, instead of ocean-based seaweed cultivation, are reproducing the target compound from the plant rather than mass producing seaweed itself.

Managing director David Messina said: “We have been very pleased with the reception we have received from climate impact funds around the world,” Mr Messina said.

“There is a genuine desire to fund solutions to enteric methane emissions from livestock and fortunately for Rumin8, they can see the benefits of our technology.

“Our laboratory results continue to yield excellent results, our animal trials are reflecting the laboratory results, and the financial modelling we are undertaking is indicating we will be able to supply our products at a commercial price point.”

In December Gates topped the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s annual list of the 10 largest charitable gifts announced by individuals or their foundations.

He gave $5 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to back the grantmaker’s work in global health, development, policy and advocacy, and US education. Gates, whose net worth is estimated at $104 billion, attracted attention in July when he announced he was giving $20 billion to the foundation he runs with his former wife, Melinda French Gates.

However, foundation officials confirmed in December that three-fourths of that $20 billion went toward paying off the $15 billion he and French Gates had pledged in July 2021. The remaining $5 billion was a new infusion to the foundation.

COP27
Fossil fuel lobby waged $4m disinformation campaign during climate summit, report finds

Stuti Mishra
Tue, 24 January 2023 

Fossil fuel companies spent millions of dollars on advertisements containing climate disinformation and greenwashing attempts when leaders assembled for the United Nations climate summit in November, new research has claimed.

A report by the Climate Action Against Disinformation (CAAD) coalition analysed fake information and misleading claims circulating online during the Cop27 summit in Egypt.

It found that a sample of fossil fuel sector-linked entities spent approximately $4m on Meta for paid advertisements to spread false, misleading claims on the climate crisis, net-zero targets and the necessity of fossil fuels prior to and during Cop27.

The analysis identified 3,781 adverts, the majority of which were from a PR group of the American Petroleum Institute called Energy Citizens, the report states. It also found that America's Plastic Makers alone spent over $1m and the Saudi Green Initiative ran 13 ads.

The report says there was a surprising increase in content related to outright climate denial, including a spike on Twitter for the hashtag #ClimateScam since July 2022, months before the summit began.

These adverts exploited issues like the cost of living to justify the use of fossil fuels, which remain the dominant cause of planet-warming greenhouse gases, and created false doubts about the reliability of green technology.

A broader scepticism over the climate crisis was also promoted through a “narrative playbook”, tying climate change concerns to “wokeness”.

The Independent approached Energy Citizens as well as the American Petroleum Institute for comment, but did not receive a response prior to publication of this story. In a mission statement on the organisation’s website, Energy Citizens described themselves as “passionate and determined to see our nation develop balanced energy policies that strengthen our communities, support our families and make our nation more secure”.

“The events of 2022 turbocharged a global ecosystem for disinformation,” said Jennie King, head of climate research and response at ISD. “Russia’s war in Ukraine and its impact on energy supply chains have renewed anti-climate attacks globally.

“State actors and lobbyists are attempting to ‘wokewash’ their opposition to climate action, and attacks on climate movements are becoming increasingly extreme,” Ms King added.

“The situation is hugely concerning and needs a coordinated response everywhere, from Big Tech to its regulators. At this pivotal juncture, tackling climate disinformation is an essential part of climate action.”

The loss and damage fund, a new financial facility for victims of climate crisis-induced disasters that received a green light at last year’s conference, was presented as “climate reparations”.

The report supports the growing concerns several climate activists and organisations raised during the summit over the rising denial of climate science and the influence of fossil fuel entities.

Cop27 was criticised for the presence of the highest number of executives from firms related to fossil fuels with the final deal failing to bring a stronger outcome in favour of the green energy transition.

It also comes as the United Arab Emirates, the host of this year’s climate summit which is set to be held in Dubai, announced Sultan Ahmed Jaber, a CEO of an oil giant, as the president.

“This research shows that climate disinformation isn’t going away and, in fact, it’s getting worse,” said Erika Seiber, climate disinformation spokesperson at Friends of the Earth US.

“Until governments hold social media and ad companies accountable, and companies hold professional disinformers accountable, crucial conversations around the climate crisis are going to be put in jeopardy.”

UK

Greenpeace accuses Treasury of distorting its stance on biomass burning


Fiona Harvey and Phoebe Cooke

The Guardian
Tue, 24 January 2023 

Photograph: Lee Smith/Reuters

Greenpeace has accused the government of misrepresenting its stance on burning trees for electricity, giving a minister the impression of public support for the highly controversial practice in meetings with the power company Drax.

Greenpeace is firmly opposed to most forms of biomass burning for power generation, and suspicious of claims that the resulting carbon dioxide can be captured.

But in a briefing note to a minister before a meeting with Drax – formerly a coal-fired power station operator and now a major burner of wood for electricity generation – officials cited Greenpeace as having “provided a statement in support of BECCS [bioenergy with carbon capture and storage]”.

The notes, seen by the Guardian, were obtained by the investigative journalism organisation DeSmog under the Freedom of Information Act (FoI).

Doug Parr, the chief scientist at Greenpeace UK, said the claim was misleading and damaging. Greenpeace, along with other green groups, opposes biomass burning for power, except in special circumstances, for several reasons: burning wood releases carbon dioxide now, but regrowing trees to reabsorb the carbon can take decades; growing trees for power generation takes up land that could be better used; cutting down trees destroys wildlife; and there are few safeguards to ensure that wood for burning comes from well-managed sources.

“It’s just not true, and it’s really annoying [to be cited in support of the practice],” said Parr. “We see no evidence for BECCS being a useful way of reducing emissions.”

The FoI documents, dating to last March, show that ministers have been subject to fierce lobbying from Drax, the UK’s biggest single carbon emitter. Drax has converted four of its six boilers to burn wood pellets rather than coal, and was asked by National Grid on Sunday to “warm” its remaining coal generators in case they were needed to reduce strain on the UK’s energy network.

Drax has received about £5.6bn in subsidies from energy-bill payers over the last decade for its switch to wood burning, and is hoping for billions more under a revamped subsidy system from 2027, the details of which will be set out in 2025.

The thinktank Ember has estimated that Drax could be in line for more than £30bn in future subsidies. But green campaigners including Greenpeace argue the subsidies are misplaced.

There are signs the government is also prepared to rethink the subsidies. Last summer, the Guardian revealed that the then business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, told a private meeting of MPs that importing wood to be burned by Drax was “not sustainable” and “doesn’t make any sense”.

The Treasury briefing notes obtained by DeSmog were prepared before a meeting with Drax in early March 2022, just a few weeks after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which sent gas prices soaring and the government scrambling to secure the UK’s energy supplies. Will Gardiner, the chief executive of Drax, had requested the meeting with Lucy Frazer, then exchequer secretary to the Treasury.

To prepare for the call, which after delays took place on 9 March, Frazer was given a briefing note on some of the issues surrounding BECCS and Drax’s operations. This included a discussion of the UK’s legally binding target to reach net zero emissions by 2050, and Drax’s ability to provide 2GW of electricity a year.

The notes conclude: “Power BECCS is generally unpopular amongst climate activists and NGOs, who are sceptical of cutting down trees and burning them to help save the climate. Some, including the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, have written to the Treasury seeking for it to be blocked. However, Greenpeace have provided the following statement in support of BECCS: ‘A small proportion of emissions is likely to be unavoidable and must be offset by carbon dioxide removal, such as by tree-planting (afforestation/reforestation) or by technological approaches like bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) or direct air carbon capture with storage (DACCS).’ Greenpeace January 2021.”

Parr said the statement was not “provided” to the government, and was taken out of context. The sentence came from a report Greenpeace compiled regarding carbon capture technologies, discussing the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the body of the world’s leading climate scientists. The panel has said that ways of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere would be needed to avoid the worst ravages of climate breakdown.

Parr said: “This gives a false impression that there are environmentalists giving their support for biomass burning at a large scale. But civil society is strongly lined up against this.”

Elsewhere in the FoI documents, officials seem to be growing weary of pleas from Drax, noting “the next one in a series of lobbying attempts” at one point.

A Drax spokesperson said: “As the UK’s largest renewable power generator by output, Drax plays a vital role in keeping the lights on for millions of homes and businesses. It’s therefore essential for Drax to engage with government and other key stakeholders on matters relating to energy security and its future business strategy.

“Last year, at the request of the UK government, Drax agreed to extend the availability of its two remaining coal generating units to help bolster UK energy security as a result of the war in Ukraine.

“Drax plans to invest around £3bn by 2030 in critical renewable energy infrastructure projects, including BECCS and pumped hydro storage, which will support energy security, as well as efforts to meet the country’s climate targets whilst creating jobs.

“Biomass is the only source of reliable, renewable power which is available whatever the weather, displacing fossil fuels on the electricity grid and playing a vital role in maintaining energy security. Drax is a world leader in sustainable biomass and we adhere to all required legislation, regulations and standards which govern the energy sector, Drax’s businesses and supply chains in the UK, Canada, US and EU.”

A HM Treasury spokesperson said: “Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage is expected to play an important role in Britain’s future energy security and helping the UK to achieve its net zero target. The use of biomass in energy generation in the UK’s power sector has helped to dramatically reduce the use of fossil fuels. Drax is the largest renewable electricity provider, meeting 12% of UK renewable power demand.”

UK

New ‘fire and rehire’ rules will not stop another P&O-type scandal, union warns

Henry Saker-Clark, PA Deputy Business Editor
Tue, 24 January 2023

The TUC union has warned that new rules from ministers designed to tackle “fire and rehire” practices are “not going to stop another P&O-style scandal”.

The Government has said companies which sack workers who do not agree to accept worse working terms face compensation payments as part of a crackdown on rogue practices.

Business Secretary Grant Shapps announced the plans on Tuesday for a statutory code of practice for employers.

The announcement is partly in response to the actions of P&O Ferries, which last year sacked 786 seafarers without due consultation.

P&O was widely condemned for not providing staff with notice for the sackings, but an investigation by the insolvency service found their actions were not illegal.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said the new rules from Government do not go far enough.

“This is a reheated, repeated announcement,” he said.

“A statutory code of practice is not going to stop another P&O-style scandal from happening, and it won’t deter bad bosses from treating staff like disposable labour.

Business Secretary Grant Shapps has outlined the plans (Kirsty O’Connor/PA)

“If the Government really cared about workers’ rights it wouldn’t have abandoned its much-touted employment bill.”

The Government pledged the new code will protect employees and clamp down on employers that use controversial dismissal tactics.

Courts will be given power to increase compensation to employees by 25% in certain circumstances if employers do not abide by the set of rules.

Mr Shapps said: “Using fire and rehire as a negotiation tactic is a quick-fire way to damage your reputation as a business.

“Our new code will crack down on firms mistreating employees and set out how they should behave when changing an employee’s contract.

“We are determined to do all we can to protect and enhance workers’ rights across the country.”

Susan Clews, chief executive of Acas, said: “We will carefully consider the Government’s consultation on its new draft code of practice and respond to it in due course.

“Our own advice is clear that fire and rehire is an extreme step that can seriously damage working relations and has significant legal risks for organisations.”

Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, said: “This code isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.

“It’s shameful that nearly a year after the P&O Ferries scandal the Conservatives can only offer this weak half-measure, which they admit will allow fire and rehire tactics to continue.”

French bakers unable to earn their crust protest energy price hikes

Issued on: 24/01/2023 

AFP - THOMAS SAMSON

A protester holds a cardboard cutout of a coffin with the words "Artisan baker killed by France" during a march in Paris on January 23, 2023. 

Text by: Amanda Morrow with RFI

French bakers on Monday staged an angry march through the streets of Paris to demand the government step up financial support to compensate for hikes in electricity bills and the cost of raw materials such as flour, sugar and butter.

Bakers are among the small French businesses not protected by government-imposed tariff caps on energy prices. As a result they complain their months bills have multiplied by up to 10 times the normal amount.

Calling for "tariff caps for all", the Collective for the Survival of Bakers and Crafts led a procession of bakers from Place de la Nation, in the east of the capital, to the Finance Ministry in Bercy.

"There have been significant increases in the cost of raw materials since September, while electricity bills have already closed down the most fragile businesses," co-founder of the collective, Frederic Roy, told Sud Radio.

Roy wants bakers to benefit from the same 15 percent tariff cap the government has granted to individual households.

Businesses battling

Bakers say they’ve been forced to drastically reduce their margins, laying off staff and putting up the price of baguettes in order to cope.

While the government has put in place various aid packages for the country’s 33,0000 bakers, those in the industry say most are missing out because the process of accessing aid is too complicated.

Catherine Maillard, who managers a bakery in the upmarket Paris suburb of Levallois-Perret told Europe 1 radio that 80 percent of bakers were not even eligible for aid. How an African pastry chef brought Chadian chic to Paris

Meanwhile Vincent Chartier, a baker from the north-western town of Mayenne, said passing on huge prices increases to customers would be detrimental to the business.

"If we doubled the price of a baguette, we would sell fewer baguettes - and if we sell fewer baguettes we need fewer employees," Chartier told France Bleu.

Without the usual margins, Chartier said his business could not invest in new equipment, upgrade existing machines or buy new molds.

Union steps in

According to a report by RMC, the CGT energy union in the southern city of Marseille has been providing bakers in distress with 60 percent cheaper electricity.

Conceding the practice of "manipulating the meter" fell foul of the law, the union said the move remained "completely moral" even if it was "completely illegal".

Despite widespread anger from bakers in regions across France, the president of the National Confederation of French Bakeries, Dominique Anract, confirmed he was not among those protesting.France’s bakers to get tax leeway to offset soaring energy bills

French bakers enjoyed more government support than bakers elsewhere in the world, Anract told Ouest-France.

"We are working with the presidents of our 96 federations to explain the aid, the terms and conditions, everything we can do," Anract said, adding that negotiations with the government were still ongoing.

"People have the right to demonstrate, but many of them are not informed and think it is complicated. It's case by case."

UK
Security guards to join huge day of strikes

Feb 1

Alan Jones, PA Industrial Correspondent
Wed, 25 January 2023 at 1:45 am GMT-7

Security guards are the latest group of workers planning to strike next week on what will be the biggest day of industrial action in decades.

Members of the IWGB union working for contractors at London university UCL will walk out on February 1 as part of a campaign for a wage rate of £15 an hour.

On the same day, teachers, train drivers, civil servants and university lecturers will be on strike in worsening disputes over pay, jobs and conditions.


The TUC is also organising nationwide events on February 1 to protest against the Government’s controversial planned law on making unions agree to provide minimum levels of service during industrial action.

Unions believe the planned legislation would lead to workers being sacked even if they had lawfully voted to strike.

Industrial unrest has been growing for months across the country involving rail workers, nurses, other NHS staff, teachers, civil servants, council workers and others.

Some union leaders have been pressing for co-ordinated action to try to break deadlocked disputes and believe that February 1 could be the start of a wave of different groups of workers going on strike on the same day.


Unions involved in next week’s walkouts are the National Education Union, the Public and Commercial Services union, the University and College Union, the Rail, Maritime and Transport union, and Aslef.

The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) has announced that its members working as outsourced security guards at UCL will also strike on February 1.

Henry Chango Lopez, general secretary of IWGB said: “UCL’s use of outsourcing is outdated and exploitative.

“Workers face systemic discrimination in the form of poor pay and treatment from their subcontractors, and are ignored and belittled when they demand change.”

NHS pay dispute shows no sign of ending as North West ambulance workers strike

Ella Pickover, PA Health Correspondent
Tue, 24 January 2023

NHS pay dispute shows no sign of ending as North West ambulance workers strike

Almost 2,000 ambulance staff have embarked on another day of strike action as the bitter dispute over pay for NHS staff shows no sign of being resolved.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Monday that he is not able to “wave a magic wand” and that giving pay rises to striking staff would lead to money being taken away from “elsewhere in the NHS budget”.

But he insisted that the Government would continue to “engage in dialogue with the unions”.

It comes as almost 2,000 ambulance workers in the North West of England have begun a fresh strike.

The GMB union said that paramedics, emergency care assistants and call handlers began their 24-hour walkout just after midnight on Tuesday morning.

“North West ambulance workers are angry,” said GMB representative and North West Ambulance Service paramedic Paul Turner.

“Instead of talking about pay for this year to resolve this dispute, ministers are demonising us and belittling our efforts to save lives.

“The NHS is collapsing, yet we have been waiting two weeks today for another meeting with ministers.

“The only way to solve this dispute is a proper pay offer. We are waiting.”

It is the second day of strike action for ambulance staff in the region after members of the Unison and Unite unions walked out on Monday.

North West Ambulance Service said that “resources will be severely restricted” as it urged the public to only call with life-threatening emergencies.

On Monday, the Prime Minister told ITV News: “Taking a step back, of course it would be lovely to be able to wave a magic wand and just give everyone what they were demanding when it came to pay.

“But my job as Prime Minister is to make the right decisions for the country, and they are, more often than not, not easy decisions.

“But that’s my job, and that’s what I will always do in this job, and… when you think about this, how would we pay for these things? Where’s the money going to come from?

“Actually, it’s probably going to have to come from elsewhere in the NHS budget, and that means fewer nurses, fewer doctors, fewer MRI scanners and CT scanners that are diagnosing people with cancer or indeed fewer mental health ambulances that we’re announcing today that are going to save people from going to A&E.

“My job is to balance all of those things and do what I believe is right for the country.”

But he said the Government would continue talks with unions.

(PA Graphics)

It follows a day of strikes by thousands of ambulance workers across England and Wales on Monday.

Combined walkouts in early February could lead to the biggest walkouts the NHS has ever experienced.

Thousands of nurses and ambulance workers are due to stage walkouts on February 6 if no deal has been reached by then.

And as nurses take strike action on February 7, they will be joined by midwives in Wales.

Members of the Royal College of Midwives in Wales are to stage an eight-hour walkout from 8am to 4pm but will provide “bank holiday cover” for women in labour.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay has described “constructive talks with unions about this coming year’s pay process for 2023/24”, but unions have been calling for the 2022/23 pay award to be reviewed.

Teacher strikes: How do teachers' salaries compare across Europe?

Servet Yanatma

Tue, 24 January 2023 

Teachers are often hailed as heroes that are to be celebrated, but in many countries across Europe, they're feeling undervalued and are even taking to the streets.

Thousands of schools in England and Wales are set to close in February after teachers' unions voted to strike.

In Hungary, thousands of teachers marched in Budapest late last year, calling for higher salaries and urgent reforms from the government following strikes in September. Around 50 teachers have even been fired for "civil disobedience" after staging walkouts.

It's part of a wider picture of malaise in education, with a growing teacher shortage spreading across Europe. In France, there are currently 4,000 vacancies, with the latest estimates in Germany suggesting a shortfall of 25,000 teachers by 2025.

• Which countries have the most strikes in Europe and what is the impact on the economy?

The situation is largely due to working conditions, including stagnant wages that are being exacerbated by the cost of living crisis.

So, how much are teachers paid in Europe? Which countries pay teachers the most and the least? And how much have teacher salaries changed in the last decade?

There are significant differences in teacher salaries across European countries.

The official annual gross starting salaries in public schools in lower secondary education (ISCED 2) ranged from around €4,233 in Albania to €69,076 in Luxembourg in 2020/2021, according to country data compiled by the European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice.

The average pay for teachers across European Union (EU) countries is €25,055.

Teachers in France and Italy earn half what they do in Germany

Leaving aside Luxembourg, the annual starting salary was above €50,000 in just two countries, namely Switzerland (€66,972) and Germany (€54,129).

The annual salary in France and Italy was less than half the German figure.

Bulgaria had the lowest annual starting teacher salary among EU countries, at €7,731. The figure is also below €10,000 in several other EU countries such as Latvia, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Poland.

The purchasing power standard (PPS) is “an artificial currency unit” defined by Eurostat, where one PPS unit can theoretically buy the same amount of goods and services in each country. Looking at salaries in PPS irons out some of the cost of living differences between countries, but there are still wide disparities.

• Doctors' salaries: Which countries pay the most and least in Europe?

• UK nursing strikes: Which countries pay nurses the most and the least in Europe?

Teacher salaries seen through this lens ranged from 7,824 PPS in Albania to 50,357 PPS in Germany. While the annual gross starting salary of teachers is generally between 20,000 and 30,000 PPS, it is still below 20,000 PPS in 10 EU countries: Estonia, Malta, Czechia, Romania, Greece, Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Latvia and Slovakia respectively.

The Balkan countries Montenegro and North Macedonia, which are outside the EU, have higher teacher salaries in PPS than several EU countries. Surprisingly, Turkey ranks significantly better in PPS (28,455) than in nominal salary (€8,330): while it ranked 28th out of 36 countries in nominal figures, it came 11th in PPS.

How do European teachers’ salaries compare to the minimum wage?

The ratio of teacher salaries to minimum wage shows how much teachers earn compared to the minimum wage in each country. The ratio is calculated by dividing the gross teacher salary by the gross minimum wage.

That ratio is the highest in Germany, with 2.8, whereas Poland has the lowest ratio with 1.1.

In other words, the starting salary of teachers in Poland is very close to the minimum wage, while teachers starting in German state schools earn nearly three times the minimum wage.

The average ratio across 21 EU countries is 1.86 while it is just 1.4 in France and Greece.

In most European countries, teachers who start working in state schools also earn, on average, significantly less than the national gross domestic product (GDP) per capita.

Their annual gross statutory starting salary was higher than the GDP per capita in just seven out of 36 countries. The highest ratio of salary to GDP per capita was recorded in North Macedonia with 1.28, whereas it was the lowest in Ireland with 0.45.

While Germany is one of the countries with the highest GDP per capita in Europe, the ratio is 1.26, meaning that junior teachers still earn more than the average GDP per capita. In contrast, this ratio is just 0.71 in France.

How have teacher salaries changed in the last decade?

The latest Eurydice report also provides figures for the 2009/2010 period. At the time, the annual gross starting salaries of teachers varied from €2,743 in Romania to €63,895 in Luxembourg.

The average across 26 EU countries was €19,563 in 2009/2010. However, it was below €5,000 in six EU countries, namely Slovakia (€4,824), Poland (€4,462), Lithuania (€4,275), Latvia (€4,166), Bulgaria (€2,761) and Romania (€2,743).

In other EU countries, it generally ranged from €18,000 to €30,000 while starting salaries in Germany and Denmark were over €35,000.

The change in annual gross starting salaries of teachers between 2009/2010 and 2020/2021 was the highest in Lithuania, where wages rose by 269 per cent in those 11 years. Recent EU member states Romania and Bulgaria also saw dramatic increases in teacher salaries over the last decade, of 193 and 180 per cent respectively.

The starting teacher salary also rose by 42 per cent in Germany, which already had the second highest salary in the 2009/2010 period. The change was below 10 per cent in six EU countries - Cyprus, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Slovenia and Luxembourg.

Turkey is the only country on the list where starting teaching salaries decreased over the decade, falling by €876, or 10 per cent, likely due to the collapse of the Turkish lira in recent years.

In nominal terms, Iceland saw the annual gross starting salaries of teachers rise by €25,720 between 2009/2010 and 2020/2021, the highest increase among the countries studied, followed by Germany (€15,915) and Sweden (€15,135).

Starting salaries also rose by more than €10,000 in Austria, Lithuania and Denmark.

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Are teachers satisfied with their salaries?

The short answer is no.

According to the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) in 2018, on average only 26 per cent of teachers in OECD countries and economies participating in TALIS thought their work was valued by society, and 39 per cent were satisfied with their pay.

How much have countries spent on education?

In 2020, general government expenditure on education in the EU amounted to €671 billion, or 5 per cent of GDP.

The EU countries spending the highest share of GDP on education were Sweden (7 per cent), Belgium and Estonia (6.6 per cent), followed by Denmark (6.4 per cent) in the EU.

Outside of the bloc, Iceland spent 7.7 per cent of its GDP on education. The lowest levels of expenditure on education as a share of GDP were seen in Ireland (3.1 per cent), Romania (3.7 per cent), and Bulgaria (4 per cent).

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How many pupils do teachers look after?

In the EU, the average number of pupils per teacher at primary level was 13.6 in 2020 but once again, there are significant country-by-country variations.

The lowest ratios - which some would call ideal - were registered in Greece (8.4), Luxembourg (8.9), and Hungary (10), whereas the United Kingdom (19.9), Romania (19.2) and France (18.4) had the highest average number of pupils per teacher.

The pupil-teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the number of full-time equivalent pupils by the number of full-time equivalent teachers.

A worrying shortage of teachers

Last but not least, there is a worrying shortage of teachers in European countries.

More than 30,000 teacher positions remained unfilled in Germany at the beginning of this academic year.

There is a shortage of 20,000 teachers in Poland and 16,000 in Hungary, and the French Ministry of Education stated that 4,000 of some 27,300 new teacher positions remain vacant.