The focus of existing policy to reduce CO2 emissions from air travel has been on trying to manage air travel demand by raising the cost of travel for passengers. The results contained in this report show that such policies are likely to fail. Decoupling emissions from travel growth needs to focus not on demand management but on mechanisms to bring about emissions reduction measures from technology, infrastructure and operations.
IATA’s 4-Pillar Climate Strategy3 , which was endorsed by the Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organisation in 2007, focuses action on emission reduction measures from technology, infrastructure, operations and those brought about by well designed economic instruments.
Effectively decoupling emissions from air travel growth will require policy-makers and the industry to look beyond simple economic instruments:
• Technological progress will require collaboration across the value chain and across countries.
• Governments will need to play a role in funding fundamental research.
• Political will is perhaps one of the most important mechanisms for delivering emissions reductions from infrastructure improvements.
• The lack of implementation of a Single European Sky is one glaring omission in policy action to reduce emissions from air travel.
IATA is actively promoting collaborative efforts on technology and is lobbying hard for governments to improve infrastructure. For operations, there is a major initiative to spread best practices. More needs to be done about the challenges of climate change, but the airline industry is already stepping up efforts with a bold vision of zero emissions and an important target of carbon-neutral growth. The key lesson for both policy-makers and the industry is to look beyond simple economic instruments for mechanisms to bring about an effective reduction in emissions from air travel.