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World’s airlines commit to net zero carbon emissions by 2050, but Chinese carriers say target flies in the face of national goal
- Mainland Chinese airlines wanted IATA to allow them to follow President Xi Jinping’s 2060 emissions target, but industry backs earlier date
- Airlines will look to become carbon neutral through sustainable aviation fuel, new aircraft technology and alternative energy sources
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Danny Leein Boston
Most of the world’s airlines have backed the industry’s new target to achieve zero carbon emissions by 2050, despite mainland Chinese carriers joining forces to call for a delay to the timetable.
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Mainland airlines urged the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to allow them to follow President Xi Jinping’s 2060 emissions target, highlighting the divisions between China and the West ahead of next month’s UN global climate summit, as the world’s top aviation executives gathered in Boston.
But IATA, holding the industry’s first major summit in two years because of the Covid-19 crisis, shrugged off the dissent, saying all 290 of its member airlines were committed to the net zero goal even with the disagreements on implementation.
The new target, set at the association’s conference on Monday, offers the industry a way of taking independent action against climate change, while keeping governments and environmental groups at arm’s length as it works towards handling the 10 billion air passengers expected by 2050, more than double the 4.5 billion recorded in 2019.
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Willie Walsh, director general and CEO of IATA, said the airlines’ backing of the 2050 target symbolised the industry as a whole pushing towards the goal, but also left room for individual carriers to set their own timetables.
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