Zero net emissions by 2050: a huge challenge for airline ind… – MENAFN.COM

Zero net emissions by 2050: a huge challenge for airline ind… – MENAFN.COM

How can passengers take 10 billion flights a year without contributing to global warming? The question of "greening" the international aviation sector by 2050 constitutes a colossal task whose stakes -- and sheer numbers -- can make the head spin, according to the airlines themselves. At its general assembly in Boston Monday, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said it is now aiming for "net zero carbon emissions" by the middle of the century, a bold but necessary goal in the face of global warming, according to its CEO Willie Walsh. But by signing up to the goals of the Paris climate accord, and those of the European Union, IATA, which represents the airlines, does not envisage that a massive reduction in emissions will also involve a massive reduction in its operations. Quite the opposite. "For us the main target is to continue growing, because it's not the traffic that is the enemy, it's the emissions," said Sebastian Mikosz, IATA vice president in charge of environmental affairs and sustainable development. Even though air transport has suffered a huge downturn due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with a drop from 4. 5 billion travelers in 2019 to 1. 8 billion in 2020,