Navigating the pathway to sustainable aviation

Airplane flying above the forest, bottom view

Navigating the pathway to sustainable aviation

While the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the industry have been real and painful, that hasn鈥檛 changed the reality that aviation faces a daunting task: How to fly and emit less.

As the aviation industry returns to the skies, reducing carbon emissions remains critical. The current options are limited and complex, but Shell believe significant reductions in aviation emissions are possible. It will take urgent action and collaboration from multiple stakeholders and consumer demand for sustainable aviation.

Shell Aviation advocates a three-tiered carbon-management approach to reducing CO₂ emissions:

Avoid emissions: by adopting new technologies and achieving operational efficiencies that eliminate CO₂ output, particularly on the ground
Reduce emissions: through the use of sustainable aviation fuel
Offset emissions: by using high quality nature-based carbon credits to compensate for emissions

Watch: Introducing the Flightpath sustainability series 鈥� meet our host, Joel Makower, Executive Editor of Greenbiz

Joel Makower: Introduction to Flightpath

Shell is bringing together leading voices for aviation鈥檚 sustainable future. Get updated through our Flightpath newsletter.

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Watch: How airlines can build sustainability into their strategy

Airlines must make sustainability an integral part of their business strategy and not treat it as an afterthought so they can address growing concerns by investors and employees about their climate impact. Amelia DeLuca, Vice President of Sustainability at Delta Air Lines, discusses how airlines can acknowledge their impact and take bold action to reduce emissions today.

Watch: Meeting rising demand for sustainable business travel

Facing growing pressure from investors, customers, and regulators to act on the climate challenge, corporations must move swiftly to decarbonize their corporate travel. American Express Global Business Travel鈥檚 Vice President of Global Sustainability Nora Lovell Marchant, talks about several steps corporations can take: embracing carbon offsets, investing in sustainable aviation fuel, and working with suppliers that share their sustainability goals.

Watch: Creating sustainable supply chains

Supply chains today account for more than 80% of greenhouse gas emissions. Companies looking to decarbonise their supply chains should explore the idea of carbon 鈥渋nsets鈥� to help spur production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), according to Alexis Bateman, former Director of the Sustainable Supply Chain Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a leading expert on supply chain sustainability.

Watch: Nature鈥檚 role in tackling aviation emissions

Airlines are feeling pressure to curb CO₂ emissions today. Until sustainable fuel and technology solutions are deployed to help avoid and reduce emissions directly, the industry will also need comprehensive carbon offset programmes if it is to meet its net emissions reduction targets. The Nature Conservancy鈥檚 Chris Webb points to airlines鈥� opportunity to benefit from the most effective carbon sink 鈥渢echnology鈥� available today: nature itself.

Watch: How can aviation usher in a 鈥渓ow emissions age鈥�?

The aviation industry is running out of time to deploy carbon-mitigation tools, such as sustainable aviation fuel, and consumers are increasingly demanding that airlines take action today. David Hone, Shell鈥檚 top climate adviser has warned that the short window in which to act poses a risk that the sector will fail to hit its goal to halve CO₂ emissions by 2050 relative to 2005.

Watch: Aviation faces inflection point as climate challenge looms

Recently, our Flightpath host, Joel Makower, sat down with Annie Petsonk, International Counsel at the Environmental Defense Fund, to discuss how the industry鈥檚 course to recovery must also track toward a more sustainable future. Read about their Q&A about the role of sustainable aviation fuels and why the industry must work together to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

Watch: Powering sustainable flight for the next generation

There is no singular answer to reduce aviation emissions鈥� the key lies in several methods being implemented at scale by multiple stakeholders, simultaneously, according to President of Shell Aviation Anna Mascolo.

Watch: Delaying climate action risks alienating customers

Airlines need to act soon to procure carbon offsets and supplies of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to meet the rising demand for more action on climate change, according to Angela Foster-Rice, the former Managing Director of Environmental Affairs and Sustainability for United Airlines and now Senior Vice President at Everland.

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