Five noteworthy aviation sustainability developments in the past seven days curated by the Ishka SAVi team.
Here are the new developments to keep in mind:
1. NGO asks ICJ for clarity on whether aviation should count towards national Paris pledges – Environmental NGO Opportunity Green on 21st March announced it has submitted a written statement to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague asking the court to confirm that nations have legal obligations under international law to tackle climate impacts from international aviation and shipping following the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C temperature goal. Most states around the world currently do not account for these emissions in their national climate pledges (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement, leaving agencies like ICAO to act on those emissions instead. Opportunity Green’s submission to the ICJ argues that the efforts of the ICAO and IMO are additional to action under states’ NDCs.
Opportunity Green has been making a name for itself as a campaigner for higher aviation environmental accountability at the highest institutional levels. Earlier this year, it also submitted to the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in favour of an Air Passenger Levy (APL) and a tax on kerosene fuel to fund contributions to the COP28-agreed loss and damages (L&D) fund to support developing countries dealing with the adverse effects of climate change.
2. IATA calls SES2+ deal a ‘failure’ ahead of expected approval – Negative industry reaction to the recent agreement on the reform of the Single European Sky, including a proposal for the recast of the Single European Sky regulation (SES 2+), continues with IATA now joining in the chorus of voices. On 21st March the airline trade association noted that the compromise that the EU Member States were expected to approve on 22nd March would “prevent the SES from delivering on its promise, dent European competitiveness, and leave much-needed emissions savings unrealised.” “Failure. All we have to show for the years of SES2+ discussions to unite Europe’s skies is a grubby deal […] the environment and airlines must prepare to pay with delays, higher costs and unnecessary emissions. It’s a deal that should not be done,” remarked Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General. The much-delayed SES2+ initiative has been touted as an enabler of up to 10% emissions reductions through operational efficiencies. Progress on the file has been a recurrent demand by the aviation industry.
3. In annual A4E gathering, European airline CEOs plea for SAF support – Major European airline CEOs on 20th March reiterated their calls on the EU to offer more government support to incentivise the scale-up of SAF production and usage. “In the US, the SAF production is highly incentivised. We need those solutions here in Europe,” Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said at the Airlines for Europe (A4E) Clean Aviation Summit in Brussels, according to Euractiv. Currently, “90% of the investment in new plants of SAF is done in the US,” Luis Gallego, CEO of International Airlines Group (IAG), which owns British Airways among other airlines, told the forum. Gallego complained that “we don’t have enough SAF to comply (with the EU directives) and we don’t see construction of plants happening now.” The 17 member airlines also signed a joint pledge committing to creating a sector that is “Connected, Dependable, Modern, More sustainable, and Available to all.”
Pre-empting some of those calls, European Climate Action Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra in his speech at the summit touted “easier permitting and support” for SAF projects under the Net-Zero Industry Act proposal, but also called on producers and airlines to “get together” to ensure demand meets planned supply. Hoekstra also made a call to work closer with European airlines to deliver a joint decarbonisation roadmap. “Let's set up together an Aviation Climate Roadmap. This is a tool under our European Climate Law. It's a dual commitment from industry and regulators to reach identified climate goals,” Hoekstra declared. In parallel to the summit, one of A4E’s major, Air France-KLM, also published a report on its EU policy priorities for the 2024 to 2029 period after the upcoming June 2024 European election, which includes the airline’s policy positions on several different issues, including sustainability policies like fuel taxation, non-CO2 effects, or SAF.
4. Dutch aviation dealt court blows in noise and greenwashing cases – Separate court rulings in the Netherlands on 20th March dealt blows to the country’s aviation industry, with one ordering the government to cut noise pollution at Amsterdam Schiphol airport and another confirming KLM ads accused of greenwashing were indeed misleading. The first case (noise) was brought by a group of people who live close to the Amsterdam Schiphol airport. In the judgment, the court reportedly said the government had not struck a fair balance between Schiphol's economic interests and the problems it causes for people on the ground. The court said it could not explicitly order the government to limit flights at Schiphol, but that such a cut could be the ultimate result of its verdict.
The second case (greenwashing) was brought in 2022 by Dutch campaigners with the support of environmental NGO ClientEarth who argued that KLM's advertising misled the public by giving the impression that the airline is tackling climate change despite plans for air traffic growth. It also challenged KLM’s carbon offsetting marketing. According to ClientEarth, the 20th March judgment declared KLM was in fact “acting unlawfully by using misleading advertising” and it says it “sets a precedent for all companies promoting net zero commitments, with ramifications across the international aviation sector.” Because KLM had retracted its ads and because the court found a ban on similar claims too uncertain it did not see the need to issue any remedies. An unofficial English translation of the court ruling provided by the NGO is available here.
5. Europe’s ‘growing share’ of aviation emissions is real and present – new T&E visual – A newly-released interactive report by European sustainable transportation NGO Transport & Environment (T&E) puts into perspective the growing share of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from the transport sector across Europe and at a European country level – including for aviation. The State of European Transport 2024 report examines GHG since 1990 with further projections until 2030, highlighting the rise in aviation relative to other sectors. In projections to 2050, T&E expects that by mid-century transportation under the current EU Green Deal will ‘only’ have reduced its emissions by 62% versus 1990 levels, and makes the case for more stringent measures (including cutting flights) to further lower that figure.
