Airline body chief pleads for more green fuel to protect air travel

SINGAPORE: The head of global airlines' biggest trade group implored oil producers to make more low-emissions aviation fuel, warning the future of commercial air travel depends on the industry's successful decarbonisation.

Sustainable aviation fuel is the best available tool for cutting emissions, International Air Transport Association Director General Willie Walsh said at an aviation summit in Singapore Monday. Demand for the cleaner-burning fuel far outstrips supply, even though it can cost three to five times more than conventional jet fuel.

"Every bit of fuel that gets produced would be used because this is an existential issue," Walsh said. "This industry will not be allowed to grow unless we can prove to our customers, regulators, governments, people in general, that we can grow in a sustainable manner."


After surviving the pandemic, airlines' biggest challenge is reaching a goal to have net zero carbon emissions by 2050. While the sector currently accounts for a relatively small portion of global emissions, it faces huge challenges to decarbonize and could see its share balloon in coming decades if its rate of progress falls behind other industries. An estimated $5 trillion of capital investment may be needed to make the transition, much of it to build sustainable fuel refineries.