“Critically discuss the extent to which you agree that international aviation industry targets to 2050, and beyond, are compatible with the concept of sustainable development.”
Introduction
This report will be looking at whether the international aviation targets set to 2050, and beyond, are achievable and compatible with the concept of sustainable development within aviation.
The three main international aviation targets being focused on within this report are:
- An average improvement in fuel efficiency of 1.5% per year from 2009 to 2020
- A cap on net aviation CO2 emissions from 2020 (carbon-neutral growth)
- A reduction in net aviation CO2 emissions of 50% by 2050, relative to 2005 levels
(International Air Transport Association (IATA), 2017)
The targets were set by IATA in 2009 to assist in addressing the worldwide problem of climate change and to mitigate the CO2 emissions produced by the aviation industry.
Sustainable development is a term that can be quoted, interpreted and defined differently depending on the audience and the context it is set within. One of the most frequently quoted definitions of sustainable development is from Our Common Future, also known as the Bruntland Report in which Gro Harlem Bruntland (1987) states:
“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
In the report, Bruntland and others go onto: examine the critical issues of the environment and development to form action proposals, strengthen the international cooperation to influence policies and events and raise the level of understanding of the problems posed in the future for the benefit of the next generation.
Looking at sustainable development in a general context, the focus is often shifted onto balancing the economic, environmental and social needs, which allows prosperity for the current and future generations. This consists of a long-term approach by addressing the issues whilst avoiding the over consumption of key natural resources. (Sustainable Environment, 2004) In 1994, John Elkington developed the phrase “the triple bottom line” in which he reiterated the concept that each individual factor had to be balanced and taken into account in order to ensure a sustainable outcome. (The Economist, 2009)
If the three factors are examined individually, then the balance becomes more obvious:
The economic approach, which focuses on maximising income whilst maintaining a constant or increased level of capital stock – the capital stocks can either be physical, human, social or natural capital. Physical capital can be manmade goods which enable and improve processes such as buildings and structures, but within the aviation industry this can also relate to aircraft and runway infrastructure. Human capital includes labour in addition to other resources that humans provide within the workplace that increases and adds value to a business such as skills and knowledge for example. Social capital focuses on the social relations within an industry that have productive benefits, such as connections and networking power. Natural capital is both the land on which the working environment is built as well as the natural resources of the process, such as the trees to build and contribute to the buildings and infrastructure. In addition to the basic natural resources, fossil fuels and renewable energies are also included in this type of capital. This is known as the profit ‘P’ in the triple ‘economic’ bottom line. (International Air Transport Association, 2012a)
The social approach looks at the people involved within the process as well as social capital, community development, human rights involvement, social responsibility and health and wellbeing. You can relate social responsibility and health and wellbeing back to the aviation industry as (corporate) social responsibility is a measure of sustainability, whilst the aviation industry often has a large impact on the health and wellbeing of everyone involved, whether it be due to noise from direct or indirect airport and aircraft operations, to the difference in air quality caused by the industry. This is known as the people ‘P’ in the triple ‘social equity’ bottom line. (International Air Transport Association, 2012b)
The environmental approach looks at sustainable environmental practices, natural capital and at the rate that; renewable resources can be harvested, non-renewable resources can be harvested and then substituted by alternatives and compliments and at the rate that pollution can be generated then absorbed by the environment. If none of the above can continue, then they are not seen as sustainable. This is known as the planet ‘P’ in the triple ‘environmental’ bottom line. (International Air Transport Association, 2012c)
Critical Discussion
In 2016, the global aviation industry produced 2% of all human-induced carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Aviation is responsible for just 12% of CO2 emissions from all transport sources, whilst road transport is responsible for emitting emissions equal to 74%, making aviation a small but important contributor to climate change. The 2% air transport relative CO2 contribution hasn’t increased in the past 20 years, and according to current trends, isn’t expected to increase beyond 3% by 2050. (Air Transport Action Group (ATAG), 2016)
In January 2009, the UK Government decided to support the decision of the third runway at Heathrow Airport, which would mean an increase in the number of Air Traffic Movements (ATMs) at Heathrow from 480,000 to 605,000 annually. In addition to this, the government also set a target that the CO2 emissions emitted from UK aviation in 2050 should be at, or below 2005 levels. UK aviation CO2 emissions in 2005 were recorded at 37.5MtCO2, therefore the emissions emitted in 2050 cannot exceed this level. (Committee on Climate Change, 2009)
Unlike other industries, aviation offers very little scope for decarbonising the industry as it wouldn’t be possible to fly aircraft using renewably sourced electricity, like with road transport vehicles.
Bibliography
- Air Transport Action Group (ATAG), 2016. Facts & Figures [Online] Available at: http://www.atag.org/facts-and-figures.html [Accessed: 30th October 2017]
- Bruntland, G. H., 1987. A source of information. In: Our Common Future. Oslo. Ch2: Towards Sustainable Development
- Committee on Climate Change (2009) Meeting the UK aviation target – options for reducing emissions to 2050 [Online] Page: 2. Available at: https://www.theccc.org.uk/archive/aws2/Aviation%20Report%2009/21667B%20CCC%20Aviation%20AW%20COMP%20v8.pdf [Accessed: 1st November 2017]
- International Air Transport Association (IATA), 2012a. Global Aviation and Our Sustainable Future: RIO+20 [Online] Available at: https://www.icao.int/environmental-protection/Documents/Rio+20_booklet.pdf [Accessed: 3rd November 2017]
- International Air Transport Association (IATA), 2012b. Global Aviation and Our Sustainable Future: RIO+20 [Online] Available at: https://www.icao.int/environmental-protection/Documents/Rio+20_booklet.pdf [Accessed: 3rd November 2017]
- International Air Transport Association (IATA), 2012c. Global Aviation and Our Sustainable Future: RIO+20 [Online] Available at: https://www.icao.int/environmental-protection/Documents/Rio+20_booklet.pdf [Accessed: 3rd November 2017]
- International Air Transport Association (IATA), 2017. Policy: Climate Change [Online] Available at: http://www.iata.org/policy/environment/Pages/climate-change.aspx [Accessed: 30th October 2017]
- Sustainable Environment (2004) Principles: Objectives [Online] Available at: http://www.sustainable-environment.org.uk/Principles/Objectives.php [Accessed: 2nd November 2017]
- The Economist (2009) Idea: Triple bottom line [Online] Available at: http://www.economist.com/node/14301663 [Accessed: 2nd November 2017]