“It’s hard to take IATA’s environmental targets seriously when they have a track record of criticizing … policies that will enable clean technologies like the EU’s SAF mandate,” Jo Dardenne of environmental group Transport and Environment said.
Tim Clark, president of Dubai’s Emirates, which recently announced a $200-million aviation sustainability fund, insisted the industry was taking commitments seriously.
“We’re serious, we’re putting money into it. We’re not technologists. We will operate our fleet as best, as efficiently as we can,” he told reporters.
But Clark, whose airline will host the next IATA meeting in Dubai next June, warned other carriers against complacency.
“We need to do something more than moan and groan and say ‘it’s not fair, we can only do what we are doing’,” Clark said.
Walsh said airlines were not afraid to confront the fact that their share of total emissions will rise as other industries with fewer technological hurdles decarbonise.
“It’s not about moaning. It’s about the reality … it is not good enough for everybody else to join us and say yes, we agree. They need to join us and say yes, we agree and here’s what we’re going to do.”
But Walsh hinted airlines needed more time to reach consensus on interim targets, after their emissions pledge in 2021 was clouded by disagreements seen as an echo of wider climate talks.
“Different parts of the world are moving at different paces and for us, representing global airlines, we’ve got to factor all of that into account.”
One thing airlines agreed on was frustration at aircraft delays, which have disrupted their schedules, with CEOs asking IATA to lobby planemakers.
In practice, a senior aircraft industry source told Reuters, airlines with the biggest order books and clout would be able to cut the best deals and shortest additional waiting times.
Source- Hindustan Times.