Flying Without Climate Impact

The aviation industry is a big contributor to Green House Gas (GHG) emissions. CO2 emissions from commercial operations were close to ~918 million tonnes in 2019 showing a 29% increase since 2013. In 2020 due to the pandemic, we saw a clear reduction in emissions, one of the reasons being a lower number of flights in the sky. All forms of travel whether for business, for tourism or for commercial operations all contribute to emissions from aviation. One thing we learned in 2020 is that most of the business meetings can be taken care of online without the need for traveling thus avoiding flights. There are also flights being researched and developed with lower carbon impacts or emissions. But aviation industry still remains a major contributor to emissions impacting climate change.

So, what can we as individuals do?

1. Try avoiding traveling via flights as much as you can if the meetings, conferences, trade shows, etc. can be done online then avoid such travel and conduct these businesses online.

2. Choose a fuel-efficient itinerary. According to [1] most cheaper flights tend to be fuel efficient but always better to check online and get this information and make an informed decision on your travel plans.

3. Choose flights with no layovers if possible, direct flights tend to emit less compared to flights with layovers.

4. Choose flights with newer planes by checking flight information online while booking.

5. Advocate for flights to be open about their emissions for each route, so passengers can select the least polluting flight.

6. Avoid taking private jets and travel in commercial flights. The lesser the number of flights in the sky better it is for the environment.

What can airline businesses do?

1. Disclose emissions for each flight route for customers to see and make decisions about their travel.

2. Retire older fleet and add new aircraft with better fuel efficiency.

3. Invest in new technology for improving the aviation industry, allowing to reduce emissions, use alternative fuels and have better efficiency.

If individuals and businesses together follow these practices, we can make sure to reduce emissions by a significant amount from aviation. This will ensure that only emissions that cannot be avoided are emitted into the atmosphere from flights until we develop electric planes or carbon neutral planes.

Sources

[1] Zheng S. and Rutherford D. (2021). Variation in avaiation emissions by Itinerary: The case for emissions disclosure. ICCT

[2] Graver B., Rutherford D. and Zheng S. (2020). CO2 emissions from commercial aviation: 2013, 2018 and 2019. ICCT