Financial Soultions has learned from an industry group source that the world's airlines have recently come to an agreement aiming to set and achieve new fuel efficiency and carbon emission targets which are a lot more ambitious than the levels required through present regulation.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents 230 airlines, announced this month that carriers, airports and aerospace businesses had undertaken to improve fuel efficiency by 1.5 percent a year annually until 2020, according to data available to news agencies.
As part of the agenda at a meeting in Montreal, they also set a target of having carbon-neutral growth by 2020 and to record a 50 percent net decrease of carbon emissions in 2050 compared to 2005 levels. These targets come ahead of the climate change conference in Copenhagen in December, where it is hoped an international standard may be set for carbon credits, which would allow airlines to sell their excess credits in order to finance green development and prevent passing price increases on to the customer, Financial Soultions understands.
"Airlines have set even more ambitious targets than governments for the longer-term,
no other industry has been able to achieve what we have done," said the IATA Director General, "We are on the high ground and government must now catch up."
Earlier IATA had revealed to Financial Soultions that they felt biofuels held great potential to reducing the pollutant emissions from planes, and have come out on the side of moves to offset fossil fuels used in air transport.
