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European Airlines Hone Plan to Tackle Public Backlash Over Emissions

European Airlines Hone Plan to Tackle Public Backlash Over Emissions

(Bloomberg) -- Europe’s airlines are coalescing around a two-pronged response to a public backlash over carbon emissions.

Carriers initially plan to extend the use of offsets like tree planting to compensate for greenhouse-gas output while also embracing sustainable biofuels, executives from companies including Deutsche Lufthansa AG, EasyJet Plc and IAG SA’s British Airways arm said at a conference in Berlin.

That’s before a longer-term fix from the introduction of hybrid and fully-electric jetliners becomes available, most likely in the 2030s.

Airlines are bracing for regulatory interventions aimed at slashing emissions as new European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen prepares to unveil a package dubbed the “Green New Deal.” So-called flight shaming is also taking root as a concern for carriers as campaigners including Greta Thunberg and groups such as Extinction Rebellion protest against air travel.

“Aviation will have to substantially reduce its carbon emissions if it wants to grow,” Filip Cornelis, the European Commission’s director for aviation, said at the International Air Transport Association’s Wings of Change conference in the German capital Wednesday. “That is the political reality in Europe today.”

The consensus around mitigation efforts is emerging as a surge in global travel outweighs gains from more-efficient aircraft. The United Nations says aviation is set to overtake power generation as the single biggest CO2 producer within three decades. Right now it emits about 2.5% of the total, while transportation as a whole, including autos, accounts for about 20% and the power sector 40%.

Cost Burden

Extra expenses from emissions regulation may initially be marginal but are likely to widen the gap between Europe’s stronger carriers and the weaker majority, S&P Global Ratings said in a report Thursday. Market-based measures to reduce net CO2 output like the EU Emissions Trading Scheme and the Carbon-Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation, or Corsia, should be viewed as interim steps while new technologies are being developed, it said.

EasyJet said Tuesday it will spend an estimated 25 million pounds ($32 million) on offset projects including afforestation with the objective of removing as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as its fleet emits.

Lufthansa plans to introduce automatic offsetting for corporate clients and will introduce an optional surcharge for “Sustainable Aviation Fuel” as it extends the use of kerosene alternatives produced from biomass and animal fats.

“The solution just has to be the use of synthetic fuels,” Carsten Spohr, the carrier’s chief executive officer, said at the Berlin event. “It’s the only vision I can see right now to really become CO2 neutral in the conceivable future.”
Read More: EasyJet to Offset Carbon as Airlines React to Flight Shaming

To contact the reporter on this story: William Wilkes in Frankfurt at wwilkes1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net, ;Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net, Christopher Jasper, Andrew Noël

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