Global carbon emissions from aviation are expected to decrease 7.8 percent this year as dramatic capacity cuts have taken hold and some airlines have started implementing emission reduction initiatives, IATA director general and CEO Giovanni Bisignani today said at the Air Transport Action Group's annual Aviation & Environment Summit in Geneva, Switzerland.
Bisignani said CO
2 emissions would drop 6 percent due to this year's expected capacity decreases and 1.8 percent due to an airline climate change strategy adopted at last year's summit. IATA's goal this year is to reduce airline carbon emissions by a further 10 million tons this year, following a 15-million-ton reduction in 2008.
The revised Single European Sky initiative, which the European Parliament adopted last week
(EuroBTN, March 26), potentially could reduce CO
2 emissions by 16 million tons, he said.
Bisignani also announced the launch of an IATA global carbon offset program through which the group offers participating airlines a standard carbon calculator and settlement using its financial systems.
Carbon-emission cuts are of growing concern to airlines operating into and out of the European Union, the governing bodies of which already have approved a series of measures to curb transport-related greenhouse gas emissions. In June, they approved a plan that airlines operating in the EU must join a carbon-emissions cap-and-trade system no later than 2012
(BTNonline, July 21, 2008).
While airlines are the focus of most travel-related green initiatives, travel buyers are carrying eco-friendly procurement practices to other supplier categories. About 80 percent of the requests for proposals Carlson Wagonlit Travel receives contain questions about emissions, carbon calculation tools and corporate social responsibility codes of conduct, said global product director of online booking and environment David Tibbles.
According to a new AirPlus International survey, 19 percent of 139 travel buyers in North America and Europe said the economy has overshadowed their existing green travel initiatives. Conversely, 31 percent said the economy has increased commitment to or awareness of their green travel efforts.
"They have to be able to connect the environmental concern with a bottom-line impact," said AirPlus president Richard Crum. "If they can connect that to cost savings, those things move forward. If they can't, it's being put on the back burner."