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emission targets which go much further than the levels required
through regulation, an industry group said on Saturday. The
International Air Transport Association, which represents 230
airlines, said that carriers, airports and aerospace firms had
pledged to improve fuel efficiency by 1.5 per cent a year annually
until 2020. At a meeting in Montreal, they also set a goal of
having carbon-neutral growth by 2020 and to record a 50 per cent net
reduction of carbon emissions in 2050 compared to 2005 levels.
'Airlines have set even more ambitious targets than governments for
the longer-term,' IATA Director-General Giovanni Bisignani told
reporters on a teleconference. 'No other industry has been able to
achieve what we have done,' he said, describing the cooperation
between all players in the sector on the environment question. 'We
are on the high ground and government must now catch up.' IATA has
previously said that biofuels hold great potential to reduce the
polluting emissions from planes, and has supported moves to offset
fossil fuels burned in air transport.
