(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Joelyn Baluyut |
The Peninsula
The state-owned flag carrier Qatar Airways reiterated its commitment to environmental sustainability and investment on Sustainable Aviation Fuel or most commonly known as SAF.
In 2021 the airlines promised to use SAF for at least 10 percent of combined fuel volumes by 2030, provided that a few suppliers produce more SAF, said Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, H E Akbar Al Baker, during the International Air Transport Association's (IATA) World Financial Symposium, which concluded yesterday.
IATA has approved a resolution last year for the global air transport industry to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The net-zero carbon emissions target is focused on delivering maximum reduction in emissions at source, through the use of SAF, innovative new propulsion technologies, and other efficiency improvements, such as advancement to air traffic navigation.
“At Qatar Airways we are at the forefront of environmental protection, taking our responsibility seriously and remaining steadfast to protect the planet for our future generations,” said Al Baker.
“As we recover, our collective goal to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 will require an industry-wide and collaborative effort. The aviation industry is fully committed to making the net-zero carbon emissions a goal, a reality.” He added that airlines around the world are undertaking“extensive range of measures to reduce aviation emissions.”
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It can be noted that a state-backed QR45.5m biofuel project started a decade ago at Qatar University. During IATA's Annual General Meeting in June this year, Al Baker said that this research project on producing SAF has made really“good progress.”
The Group Chief Executive also underscored Qatar Airways being the first carrier to make a transaction on the IATA Aviation Carbon Exchange (ACE) using IATA Clearing House. ACE is a centralised marketplace for Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), eligible emission units where airlines and other aviation stakeholders can trade CO2 emission reductions for compliance or voluntary offsetting purposes.
Al Baker has stressed that the biggest challenge in the aviation industry is“political upheaval,” and that the COVID-19 is the“biggest challenge to aviation in our living memory.”“And then there is oil price (changes), shortage of manpower, no investment due to climate issues being happening in the world in infrastructure development.”
He also pointed out criticisms against the airlines.“Governments unnecessarily putting restrictions on aviation to sustain political gains in many of the countries around the world to show that they are looking after the environment and that aviation is the biggest emitter of CO2, misleading the public who depend so much on aviation for trade, for tourism, for sustaining jobs.”
IATA Director General, Willie Walsh said that to achieve the net-zero 2050 is to ensure that they have the right policy framework in place.“Getting the policy framework right is absolutely critical... it needs to be an honest debate around what are we trying to achieve, if we're trying to achieve true net-zero by 2050.”
“Our industry is determined to address our environmental performance and we are determined to achieve net-zero, but there's so much more we could do if we had support and the right framework in place to assist us to achieve.”
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