Like many other industries, the global aviation sector is preparing for a future in which increasing financial and political pressureswill be brought to bear on the issue of climate change.
Airline operators are putting together plans to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, and these changes may squeeze consumers and businesses in the Middle East, through higher fares, reduced routes and fewer services. But focusing only on these short-term pain points ignores the tremendous economic opportunities the industry’s transformation could bring to those nations that act first to reposition themselves for competition in a carbon-constrained world. Developing countries have unprecedented access to financial support to help them begin this transition and offset rising costs. The extent to which they take advantage of these funds may determine whether the region can capitalize on the new industries and jobs that will likely result.
The European ETS deadline
The carbon conversation has been slow to reach the aviation sector, due to its relatively small contribution to global emissions (some 2 percent, according to the United Nations), but a near-term deadline has captured the industry’s attention. In January 2012, aviation will be held accountable for its emissions under the European Union Emission Trading Scheme (ETS). The only global effort so far to attempt to include the aviation sector in a carbon-compliance trading system, the ETS mandates that any airline operators flying in and out of the continent — regardless of where they are based — will have to offset their related carbon emissions above a fixed allowed amount.
If extension of the ETS goes on as planned, Middle Eastern airline operators will have to choose between passing on their higher costs to passengers, mitigating them through voluntary offsets purchased by passengers or reducing their profits for the sake of price competitiveness. The global air transport industry has filed a legal challenge to the EU’s plan — but regardless of its outcome, Middle Eastern airlines are still likely to face pressure due to growing global recognition of the sector’s rising importance in the fight against climate change. In 2009, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) pledged to achieve carbon-neutral growth beginning in 2020; the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) followed last year with a similar goal.
While the 1997 Kyoto Protocol exempted aviation when it affirmed the ETS as the most efficient and effective way to achieve global greenhouse emission reductions, consistent 4 percent to 5 percent annual growth in global air passenger traffic over the last decade has put the sector very much in the spotlight as countries work toward a post-Kyoto agreement.
Opportunities in low-emission
Fortunately, the international accords reached in Copenhagen in 2009 and Cancun in 2010 supported low-carbon investments in developing nations. The platforms for these initiatives are called low-emission development strategies (LEDS), which involve short-term mitigation steps (called ‘nationally appropriate mitigation actions,’ or NAMAs) and more structural mid-to-long-term changes (‘national adaptation programs of action,’ or NAPAs). The LEDS platform represents a tremendous opportunity for the Middle East, and particularly for its aviation industry. Airline operators can now implement emission-reducing projects and receive marketable carbon credits in return, or they can coordinate a larger scale transformation and apply for funding through the NAMA framework. Thanks to these new efforts, emissions-reducing projects don’t have to break the bank. Projects can either be co-financed or fully financed through a growing pool of internationally available funds. The Copenhagen accord of 2010 established $30 billion in fast-start financing for such projects, and delegates meeting in Cancun last year committed to expanding that amount so that $100 billion in new and additional funds are made available every year by 2020.
Plan of action
Rather than wait to see if they will be forced to comply with the European ETS next year, aviation operators in the Middle East should start laying the groundwork now to get ahead of coming regulations and to investigate the possibilities of breakthrough changes in the fast-growing market for alternative fuels. This can be accomplished through three broadsteps:
Take short-term actions to “clean house”
Fleets operated by Middle East airlines are newer, and hence more efficient, than their European counterparts’, which will help to blunt the impact of the ETS if it is enforced. Still, there is ample room to improve the overall efficiency of the air-traffic system and ensure that all carbon waste is eliminated. Flight delays and aircraft congestion are principal contributors to the aviation sector’s inefficient energy use; these can be dramatically reduced by enhanced cooperation between civil and defense aviation organizations, alongside other regional efforts to optimize aircraft routing. In addition, existing aircraft lease contracts should be reviewed to eliminate the most inefficient parts of the fleet.
Enhance government-industry ties
Operators should engage their governments to ensure that they assume an active role in formalizing a LEDS for the sector that is focused on activities that qualify for NAMA or NAPA support. This will allow the industry to realize carbon credit returns on capital invested and, where applicable, access international carbon finance funds. Ideally, designing a LEDS should be a country’s first step, laying the foundation for future activities, but this may not always be possible. Developing a LEDS is a long and evolving process, and it may make more sense to weave the LEDS approach into existing carbon-reducing activities and use it as the basis for future growth.
Define the business case for bio-fuels
Barring any quantum-leap breakthroughs in aircraft design, the most promising opportunity for emissions reductions in the aviation sector is in bio-fuels, which produce up to 80 percent fewer carbon emissions than fossil fuels over their lifecycle (provided they are grown locally). At least 10 airlines outside of the region have already conducted successful flight tests with feedstocks ranging from sugarcane to jatropha (a type of shrub) to coconuts. Jatropha, in particular, holds immense promise for the region, as it is a non-food crop that can grow in desert climes and does not require much irrigation. Middle East airline operators are right to be concerned about their profits and competitiveness as the deadline looms next year for compliance with the European ETS. But there are bigger forces in play, and focusing on this factor alone may cost them the chance to seize the opportunities that are emerging with the evolution of carbon finance markets. Middle Eastern airlines have been growing at a much faster pace than global benchmarks, if that growth is to continue then the region’s operators and regulators will need to plot a course for competing —and prevailing — in a carbon-constrained future.
