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HITTING EMISSIONS TARGETS
Flying solo will limit the ability of airlines to meet their ambitious emissions reduction targets. A deeper level of co-operation between governments and airlines and their partners must be forged to achieve global aviation’s goal of halving its emissions, from 2005 levels, by 2050.
November 1st 2015
A year away from an International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Assembly, where representatives of 190 member states will be tasked with producing a global scheme for payment of emissions from aviation, a new report has been released that outlined the industry’s progress in combating climate change. Read More »
At the same time, at the recent Air Transport Action Group (ATAG) Global Sustainable Aviation Summit in Geneva, industry leaders emphasized, once again, that combating climate change is a team effort, and that team includes governments.
But for now, the report on the aviation industry’s success in reducing its global production of greenhouse gases, Aviation Climate Solutions, is impressive. In the last 25 years, the airline industry has halved its fuel use per kilometre.
Since 2008, when the International Air Transport Association (IATA) set its emissions targets, a cumulative 600 million tonnes of CO2 have been avoided as a result of the industry’s four pillar strategy of improved technology, operations, infrastructure and the introduction of a global market based measure (MBM) to pay for industry emissions.
IATA director general and CEO, Tony Tyler, in a speech at the ATAG summit, said yes, good work had been done, but the job was far from finished.
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| Executive director of the Air Transport Action Group, Michael Gill: climate change action is not only taking place in large organisations,but through partners in emerging economies |
Both Tyler and ATAG executive director, Michael Gill, told delegates the industry was on target for achieving a 1.5% improvement in fuel efficiency per year to 2020, but both speakers qualified that achievement by reminding the audience that to reach the critical target of being carbon neutral by 2020, inter-governmental action was necessary. The same government support was essential for the aviation industry to achieve its goals of halving production of greenhouse gases by 2050, Tyler said.
To hammer home their point on co-operation, 28 aviation manufacturers and the leaders of global and regional airline and airport associations signed an open letter to governments asking for support for “developing a smart regulatory environment which encourages aviation development as part of broader government economic growth policy, within and across national borders to bring global benefits in a way that avoids unintended negative consequences”.
As IATA and ATAG have often said, one major negative consequence would be the continuing development by countries of individual, unco-ordinated emissions taxes on aviation.
The letter was organized by the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG), which brings together all the major players in the aviation sector. The signatories reaffirmed their commitment to their specific goals of containing climate change.
The Aviation Climate Solutions report demonstrates the industry has embarked on a systematic program of energy efficiency to reduce its climate impact. Projects range from solar power installations at a hundred airports around the world to tablet computers for pilots, groundbreaking aircraft designs and flights with fuel made with waste gas from anything from steel plants to used cooking oil.
“The case studies (in the report) show the wide variety of climate action across the sector,” said ATAG’s Gill. “Carbon emissions reduction projects by over 400 organizations in 65 countries are represented. But this is only a snapshot of the projects underway.
“The most impressive realization is the sheer amount of collaboration between industry partners, helping to drive efficiency. Action is taking place in all parts of the world and not only at large organizations, but also through partnerships in emerging economies.”
Key areas of climate action in the report include the development of alternative fuels, operational efficiencies such as using lighter equipment on board and taking-off, flying and landing in smarter ways, the development of entirely new aircraft and components and systematic changes in airspace and navigation management.
“Not all the projects are headline-grabbers,” Gill said. “Some actions are big, such as bringing a new aircraft to service, and some are smaller, but significant in their own way. This is a reflection of the aviation industry as a whole. We serve thousands of communities and over three billion passengers a year, but each journey tells its own unique story. It is also a reflection of what will be needed to tackle climate challenge on a broader level.
All parts of the economy and all parts of society have a role to play, with both small actions and large shifts in thinking.”
Use of alternative fuels has made extraordinary progress, despite the scope of the undertaking and its cost. More than 2,000 flights have taken place using sustainable alternative fuels. Committed airlines are spending millions in pre-purchasing of sustainable fuels made from a huge range of re-cycled materials using technology that did not exist a decade ago.
Tyler told summit delegates a global offsetting scheme would be aviation’s preferred MBM. “Offsetting is important because it is a legitimate means for the industry to achieve carbon neutral growth. It makes sense for aviation while it continues to take every step it can for itself to encourage reductions in other business sectors where the scope for emissions cuts is greater,” he said.
The IATA director general also highlighted the importance of teamwork, innovation and industry unity as the bedrock of the industry’s environmental achievements and the driver of success.
“Flying is a team effort. And that is equally true for reaching our sustainability goals. Innovation has been at the root of our technological and operational improvements. But above all it is the unity of the aviation industry, jointly setting our three climate-change targets, and the four-pillar strategy to reach them, which has enabled us to make significant progress,” Tyler said.
He said the industry’s united strategy to achieve its ambitious targets has given it a strong voice to call for governments to agree an MBM to capture carbon emissions, to enact long-overdue air traffic management reform and put in place policies to accelerate the production of sustainable fuels.
“We have only 12 months to go before ICAO makes its decision on that MBM. In the hands of 190 states will be the power to make aviation’s carbon-neutral growth goal a reality. It is no exaggeration to say that the eyes of the world will be on them. And the industry is committed to supporting their success,” Tyler said.
| Winning the emissions battle * More than 100 airports worldwide have invested in solar power, supplying a portion of their energy needs (and up to 100% in one case). * The addition of wingtip devices to 8,300 in-service aircraft has saved around 56 million tonnes of CO2 in the past 15 years. * More than 2,000 commercial flights have taken place using sustainable alternative aviation fuels that are being brought into everyday use, including billions of dollars invested by airlines pre-purchasing alternative fuel to help kick-start the industry.- * Lightweighting, including the use of new slim-line seats, carbon-fibre food service trolleys and stronger but lighter cargo and baggage containers is saving millions of tonnes of CO2 across airline fleets each year. * Technologies such as performance-based navigation are having an impact on air navigation in remote parts of the world, helping the industry serve communities more reliably and with lower emissions in challenging environments. * Several airlines and aviation companies are encouraging their teams to generate climate action ideas that will reduce emissions. |
