European aviation launches an ambitious plan to achieve zero net CO2 _emissions by 2050

The European aviation sector presented on Thursday its flagship sustainability initiative, “Destination 2050-A route to net zero European aviation. Driven by a new and independent report, it provides a vision and path for significant _CO2 emission reduction efforts in Europe and globally.

This follows the recent climate commitments announced by the sector last November in the European Aviation Recovery Roundtable Report, which urged institutional stakeholders to join the sector in an EU Pact for Sustainable Aviation by the end of 2021, a call that is repeated now.

Building on the Paris Agreement and the European Green Deal, Destination 2050 envisages that all flights in and out of the EU, UK and EFTA will achieve net zero _CO2 emissions by 2050. The ambitious plan and related commitments set by airlines, airports, aerospace manufacturers and air navigation service providers show collective leadership of the European aviation sector to reduce CO emissions₂, with the aim of making leisure and business air travel in Europe, and globally, more sustainable in the long term.

According to the report, there is an opportunity to achieve net CO emissions₂ zero by 2050 through a combination of four key measures, aligning European aviation with the EU’s climate objectives, subject to ensuring the necessary supporting policy and funding framework at national and EU level. These four measures include:

Improvements in aircraft and engine technologies could achieve emission reductions of 37%.

The use of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) could achieve emission reductions of 34%.

– The implementation of economic measures could achieve emission reductions of 8%.

Improvements in air traffic management (ATM) and aircraft operations could achieve emission reductions of 6%.

The “Destination 2050” report also assumes an impact on demand due to the above measures, resulting in the net goal of zero _CO2. However, the number of European air passengers is expected to grow on average by approximately 1.4% per year between 2018 and 2050 without compromising the sector’s ability to achieve net zero _CO2 emissions at this point.

“Destination 2050” highlights that to realize the vision of zero emissions in European aviation by 2050, while maintaining international competitiveness and the benefits of aviation for society, rapid and decisive joint actions by governments and industry will be necessary. Industry should continue to invest substantially in decarbonisation and innovation and make the necessary operational transitions, while governments should ensure a level playing field and facilitate the transition through incentives and reducing investment risks with coherent and stable policy frameworks.

This is the first industry-wide, long-term pan-European vision that comes with concrete solutions to the complex challenge of reducing _CO2 emissions from commercial flights in and out of the EU, the UK and EFTA. The initiative is led by five European aviation associations: Airports Council International Europe (ACI EUROPE), AeroSpace and Defense Industries Association of Europe (ASD Europe), Airlines for Europe (A4E), Civil Air Navigation Services Organization (CANSO) and European Regions Airline. Association (ERA). The report was made possible by the work of the Royal Netherlands Aerospace Center (NLR) and SEO Amsterdam Economics.

“This long-planned vision and roadmap for the future of European aviation underlines the commitment and determination of our sector to play our part in the fight against climate change despite the current crisis. A strong regulatory framework will be critical to achieving not only an environmentally sustainable future, but also a competitive and economically resilient European aviation industry as a whole. We remain committed to working with policymakers to jointly advance aviation for the next generation of travelers,” said Thomas Reynaert, CEO of A4E.

“The air traffic management industry and the rest of the aviation sector in Europe have come together to present a solution to our common challenge: reducing carbon emissions, while still offering valuable economic and social benefits. With improvements across the sector, we aim to make a significant impact and help achieve Europe’s climate goals,” said Tanja Grobotek, Director of European Affairs at CANSO.

“The decisive and tangible actions set out in this roadmap are unprecedented. Here we have an entire sector not only committed to decarbonisation, but is charting the way to make it a reality and contribute effectively to the EU’s climate goals and the Paris Agreement. But, although we assume our responsibilities, it is clear that we cannot do it alone. It takes two to dance a tango. We now need the EU to deliver the regulatory and regulatory framework that will enable us to deliver net-zero European aviation by 2050. We therefore urge institutional stakeholders to respond to our call and now join the EU Compact for Sustainable Aviation that we presented last November.” said Olivier Jankovec, Director General of ACI EUROPE.

“This is a crucial time for sustainability and innovation for many industries, including aviation. The European aviation sector will assume a strong leadership and collaborative position thanks to its strengths in innovation and technology. Achieving the objectives of this roadmap is possible provided that the EU and national governments play their part through increased public funding for civil aviation research and technology. This will also have broader benefits globally, taking into account the global leadership of the European aviation industry,” said Vincent De Vroey, ASD’s Director of Civil Aviation.

“Strong economic measures and much-needed government and regulatory support will be needed in the near term to close the gap until innovation, technology and sustainable aviation fuels are more available to help our industry achieve its environmental goals. Our industry wants to be part of a clean recovery that has a lasting positive impact while providing essential connectivity to European citizens; we will take positive steps to make this happen,” said Montserrat Barriga, CEO of ERA.

Source: Aerospace