https://www.vg.hu/velemeny/2022/01/kizoldulhet-e-valaha-a-legi-kozlekedesi-szektor
The 13 airlines in the OneWorld group, in partnership with more than 500 airports in ACI Europe, have committed to reducing their net carbon emissions to zero by 2050.
With the spread of omicron, more and more scientific articles are giving us hope that the virus - which has been part of our daily lives for almost two years - will soon be „tamed”. Perhaps we will soon be able to fly again, and visit the most beautiful places in the world without any restrictions, or finally visit long-lost relatives? These developments are also reflected in the cautious optimism among airline shareholders.
The expected increase in air travel would certainly be welcomed by many, but the long-term outlook for the planet cannot ignore the fact that the contribution of airlines to carbon emissions has been increasing significantly over the past decade.
But is there any hope that this industry will also be able to radically transform and operate in a sustainable way?
With the rise of low-cost flights, travel has become increasingly accessible to a wider range of people, making tourism a major industry in the global economy over the past two decades. Prior to the epidemic, one in four new jobs were created in this sector and it accounted for more than 10 percent of global GDP.
The other side of the coin, however, is that tourism is responsible for no less than 8 percent of global carbon emissions, and an increasing share of these emissions can be attributed to aviation. It is therefore urgent to find sustainable solutions for this industry that significantly reduce the ecological footprint of aviation.
In 2019, carbon dioxide emissions from human activity amounted to 43 billion tonnes, of which around one billion tonnes were emitted into the atmosphere through aircraft engines. Fortunately, industry leaders are not sitting idly by, waiting for regulators to force them to go greener: they have made significant progress towards setting international sustainability targets for more than a decade, ahead of many other sectors. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) committed to carbon neutral growth post-2020 as early as 2010, before the Paris Climate Agreement was even signed. The 13 airlines in the OneWorld group, in partnership with more than 500 airports in ACI Europe, have committed to reducing their net carbon emissions to zero by 2050.
In recent years, airlines have already taken the first steps towards meeting these commitments, gradually replacing their fleets with more fuel-efficient aircraft and gradually increasing their use of biofuels.
Of course, aircraft manufacturers will also play a key role in this process, with the real breakthrough predicted for the second half of the 1930s. One example of the future possibilities is the recent announcement by the Aerospace Technology Institute, a leading player in UK aerospace R&D, that it will develop a zero-emission commercial aircraft by the end of the decade. The Fly Zero research project aims to develop a hydrogen-powered aircraft that will be able to fly from London to San Francisco without landing, carrying around 280 passengers.
Alongside airlines, the operators of the airports that serve them can also do much to green the industry. Significant progress has already been made in this area, with more efficient buildings, electric vehicles and climate change adaptation.
Of course, the application of environmentally friendly solutions and related developments require a lot of capital. In recent years, green bonds have proved to be a very attractive and effective tool for financing green projects. Demand for these securities to finance sustainable investments is very strong in developed markets: according to the Climate Bonds Initiative, USD 156 billion will be issued in Europe alone in 2020. The attractiveness of this form of financing compared to traditional financing is reinforced by various central bank incentives and a growing pool of sustainability-focused investors.
The majority of aviation-related green bond issuances have so far been made by airports, including many of the largest ones. The most significant such issuance is linked to Mexico City Airport, with $2 billion of bonds sold to investors.
Sustainability-linked loans are a special type of green finance. They are particularly popular in Europe and Asia, but last February, a deal was struck in the United States, where JetBlue Airways' outstanding $550 million revolving credit facility was subject to two interest rates. The more favourable rate can be applied if the airline can meet sustainability criteria.
We can be confident that greening, which is gaining the attention of regulators and investors, can make a significant difference to a traditionally polluting sector such as aviation, and that the diversity of our environment will be enjoyed for generations to come.
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