First word. WE HAVE A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY THIS YEAR... LET’S SHOW CLIMATE LEADERSHIP
Our industry is all about co-operation and collaboration. Every day, around 80,000 flights across the world take off and each of those departures is an act of co-ordinated activity — between airlines, airports, air traffic controllers and the manufacturers who make the aircraft and engines… and a lot more people besides. It’s a simple fact that our industry would not work without co-ordinated action by all parties working to serve the three billion passengers we serve every year, or facilitate over $6 trillion worth of cargo. Aviation helps bring the world together and drives the global economy. That daily co-ordination also needs to take place at a strategic and policy level. The Air Transport Action Group (ATAG) works to develop this strategic thinking for aviation’s sustainable future. Bringing together all partners across the commercial aviation sector, ATAG is able to present a single voice on issues such as climate change and the benefits of air transport to the global economy — over 56 million jobs and $2.2 trillion in economic activity is supported by our industry. You can read about some of the ways that aviation makes a difference in this magazine. But we also have a responsibility to reduce our environmental footprint. One of the most precious metrics for airframe and engine makers when selling an aircraft to airlines is how fuel-efficient it is. And airlines are not like the normal consumer for more efficient cars or fridges — the decisions they make when buying a new fleet mean that every 0.001% additional fuel-efficiency can make a difference in not only their financial bottom line, but also their environmental impact. It is because of this that the aviation industry has shown some remarkable success in making its activities more efficient since its early days. Since 2008, brought together by the Air Transport Action Group, the whole industry at a global level has stood firmly behind a set of tough but realistic targets for reducing emissions and a strategy for achieving these, based on new technology, improved operational techniques and more efficient use of infrastructure. The fourth element has always been an effective, global, market-based measure for aviation to fill in any remaining gap between our goals and what the first three pillars can achieve. This year’s ICAO Assembly is an opportunity for us in the aviation community (governments, industry and civil society) to show climate change leadership by agreeing on a full package of measures and committing to a clear way forward to achieve that global market-based measure. It should not be ignored how significant it is for an industry to be asking to be regulated in this way. From the start, we have taken a pragmatic and responsible approach, understanding political realities. Now it is time for governments around the world to work with us — to collaborate as well — to achieve this goal. Paul Steele Executive Director Air Transport Action Group, Geneva
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DESPITE THE GROWTH IN AIR TRAFFIC, DOMESTIC AIRLINES IN GERMANY HAVE, SINCE 1990, REDUCED ABSOLUTE CO2 EMISSIONS BY 14%!
Paul Steele is executive director of the Genevabased Air Transport Action Group, a coalition of aviation industry bodies focusing on sustainable development of the air transport sector.