{"id":3911,"date":"2019-07-31T08:45:57","date_gmt":"2019-07-31T08:45:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/euromenaenergy.com\/?p=3911"},"modified":"2019-07-31T08:45:57","modified_gmt":"2019-07-31T08:45:57","slug":"airlines-scramble-to-overcome-polluter-stigma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emimer.com\/?p=3911","title":{"rendered":"Airlines scramble to overcome polluter stigma"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Reuters Seoul\/Stockholm\/London<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In Lorna Greenwood\u2019s London home, there is a shelf lined with travel guides.
\nBut the 32-year-old mother and former government employment lawyer has given up flying.
\nGreenwood, who grew up enthralled by the possibilities offered by plane travel, is part of a growing group of environmental activists in Northern Europe who are shunning flights as concerns about global climate change increase.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s a tough pill to swallow, but when you look at the issues around climate change, then the sacrifice all of a sudden becomes small,\u201d Greenwood said.
\nA Swedish-born anti-flying movement is spreading to other European countries, creating a whole new vocabulary, from \u201cflygskam\u201d which translates as \u201cflight shame\u201d to \u201ctagskryt,\u201d or \u201ctrain brag.\u201d
\nA number of famous Swedes have stopped flying, including opera singer Malena Ernman, the mother of teenage activist Greta Thunberg who has thrust climate change into the spotlight.
\n\u201cFlygskam\u201d was a major topic at a three-day airline summit in Seoul this weekend, with global industry leaders launching a counter-offensive.
\n\u201cUnchallenged, this sentiment will grow and spread,\u201d Alexandre de Juniac, head of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) told some 150 CEOs.
\nThe industry says it is shrinking its carbon footprint and its sustainability plan is among the most ambitious and globally focused of any industry.
\n\u201cCome on, stop calling us polluters,\u201d de Juniac said at a news conference after detailing the global initiative.
\nThe IATA said the CO2 emission for each CEO\u2019s flight to Seoul was half the amount of a 1990 flight, largely thanks to more fuel-efficient aircraft.
\nCommercial flying accounts for about 2.5% of global carbon emissions today but without concrete steps, that number will rise as global air travel increases.
\nThe aviation industry has set out a four-pronged plan to achieve carbon-neutral growth from 2020 and halve net emissions from 2005 levels by 2050.
\nBut airline leaders acknowledge they have struggled to articulate their plans in a way that resonates with the public.
\nWhen CNN anchor Richard Quest asked a room full of aviation executives whether they had used an often available booking option to offset emissions from their own flights to the South Korean capital, only a handful raised their hands.
\nThe industry\u2019s plan rests on a mix of alternative fuel, improved operations such as direct flight paths and new planes or other technology.
\nBut a widely publicised March study funded by investors managing $13tn said airlines were doing too little.
\n\u201cIf we as an industry can provide better, more concrete answers…people will start to feel more comfortable that airlines are serious about this commitment,\u201d JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes said in an interview.
\nQuestions remain over how airlines will slow, steady and finally reduce harmful emissions.
\nUse of sustainable-fuel would have the single largest impact, reducing emissions from each flight by around 80%, according to the IATA.
\nThe problem is that it is in short supply.
\n\u201cThe reality today is there\u2019s just not enough and it\u2019s too expensive,\u201d KLM CEO Pieter Elbers told Reuters.
\nKLM last week announced a deal to develop and buy biofuels from Europe\u2019s first sustainable aviation fuel plant, due to open in 2022.
\nStill, the IATA targets 2% of total fuel supply from sustainable sources by 2025 and then expects a steady increase.
\nIn Europe, eliminating dozens of national airspaces borders could reduce fuel consumption by around 6%, but lobbying for a Single European Sky has been bogged down for years.
\nAirlines say small steps like single-engine taxiing and the use of lighter materials are cutting around 1-2% of emissions each year.
\nIn the absence of a quick and substantial reduction its carbon footprint, the industry has committed to a carbon-offset programme.
\nThe global Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) allows airlines to purchase pollution credits from environmental projects.
\nIt\u2019s unclear what will count as an \u201coffset\u201d and critics say such schemes hide how much effort is being made by industry and how much is being imported and at what price.
\n\u201cThe risk is that the price airlines are effectively paying for carbon will not be politically acceptable in 5 or 10 years,\u201d a senior aviation executive said, asking not to be named.
\nEuropean Union Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc told Reuters she favours reviewing available green technology every five years \u201cand then seeing if we can reach even further.\u201d
\nFor now, trains are benefiting from the anti-flight movement, although airline bosses in Seoul said that option barely exists in their busiest new markets such as Indonesia\u2019s archipelago.
\nIn Stockholm, Susanna Elfors says membership on her Facebook group Tagsemester, or \u201cTrain Holiday,\u201d has spiked to some 90,000 members from around 3,000 around the end of 2017.
\n\u201cBefore, it was rather taboo\u201d to discuss train travel due to climate concerns, Elfors said. \u201cNow it\u2019s possible to talk about this on a lunch break…and everybody understands.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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