After nearly a decade of talks, the world’s nations on Friday pledged to drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions from the world’s aviation by 2050.
Achieving the goal of reaching ‘net zero’ emissions (the point at which air travel no longer emits additional carbon dioxide into the atmosphere) will require the aviation industry to significantly increase its climate commitments . Previously, companies relied on offsetting increased emissions from aviation through afforestation programs and unproven technologies to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
But reaching net zero will require companies and governments to invest hundreds of billions of dollars to make aircraft more efficient, use cleaner fuels, and significantly reduce emissions from air travel itself. I have. And even these investments are likely to not be enough, with countries and companies, for example, eliminating fuel subsidies, canceling airport expansion plans, ending frequent flyer programs, and reducing the number of flights. forced to adopt policies to curb itself.
This places the blame on the world’s richest countries, which account for the majority of global air travel. The International Clean Transport Council, a non-profit think tank, estimates that the world’s richest 20% take 80% of flights. The top 2% of frequent flyers fly about 40% of their flights.
“Wealthier countries need to peak emissions even faster to create room for poorer countries to grow their aviation sectors,” said Dan Rutherford, head of the think tank’s aviation and ocean program. Stated.
Emissions from global commercial aviation accounted for about 3% of global emissions in 2019 and had surged by more than 30% in the past decade before the coronavirus pandemic hit and reduced traffic. rice field. But air travel is making a furious comeback, making action essential to address rising emissions.
The aviation industry has fallen behind in addressing emissions not covered by the Paris Agreement, a 2015 agreement between countries around the world to combat climate change. The agency oversees climate negotiations. These talks quickly became a microcosm of the politics involved in global climate negotiations, arguing that less wealthy countries should not face the same restrictions as wealthier ones.
India and China, whose air travel is booming, argued in talks in Montreal this week that airlines will need until 2060 or 2070 to achieve net zero emissions.
The 2050 goals have no guarantee of success. Like the Paris Agreement, the ICAO goals do not have policy-setting powers. Furthermore, the agreement does not assign targets to specific countries or airlines, leaving the task of setting the rules up to member states.
Aviation’s contribution to climate change has been highlighted in recent years by climate activists like Swedish environmentalist Greta Thunberg, who inspired a global no-fly campaign.
The European Union is also leading the policy, proposing a number of changes, including ending the jet fuel tax exemption and taxing carbon emissions instead. French politicians have also proposed a ban on short-haul flights. In the United States, ambitious inflation-reducing legislation passed this year includes subsidies for sustainable aviation fuel.