Sustainability Issues and Challenges in Aviation

Air transportation is essential in moving people and cargo across the globe. There is however increasing recognition by the general public about the negative impact of aviation on the environment. Studies show that commercial aviation is responsible for 2.4% of global carbon emissions (Wright, 2019). Aircraft manufacturers and airlines are reducing their carbon footprint by investing in environmental projects including forest conservation; capturing and reusing methane gas emitted from landfills; and developing fuel-efficient engines, biofuels and electric aircraft. British Airways and other airlines in the International Airlines Group (IAG), have committed to reach the UK government’s target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050. EasyJet says it will become the first major carrier to operate net-zero carbon flights, offsetting carbon emissions from the fuel used on every flight starting immediately.Emission trading system (ETS) in Europe, where airlines pay to reduce carbon emissions has reduced emissions on European flights by more than eight million tons through the European ETS, which equates to reducing emissions on every European flight by 40 percent. United Nations created the first global carbon offsetting scheme named CORSIA (Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation), which will enable aviation to cut its CO2 emissions by 2.5 billion tons between 2020 and 2035 through US$40 billion investment in regulated, carbon reduction projects in other sectors. The International Air transport Trading Association (IATA) created the “Four Pillars” principle, namely technology, operations, infrastructure and economic measures for airlines to achieve carbon-neutral growth by 2020.The public is divided on this issue. The carbon-offset skeptics point out that it is hard to prove they lead to genuine, permanent emissions reductions that would not have otherwise happened and point to evidence that emissions reductions are often overestimated. Further, they argue that carbon offsets do not reduce global net emissions as emissions reductions are cancelled out by the airline emissions. Finally, they point to the fact that the airline emissions happen immediately, but the offsets do not reduce emissions until sometime in the future. Others believe in the power of technology to create solutions, such as electric aircraft, to reduce carbon emissions.This poster will explore the above issues and challenges of sustainability in aviation