For 20 years the aviation industry has missed all but one of their sustainability targets.

Our new report with Green Gumption reviews the climate targets which the international aviation industry set itself since the year 2000. Astonishingly, we found that all but one of their targets has either been missed, abandoned or just forgotten about. 

So far, the aviation industry has been allowed to self regulate their own emissions. Unfortunately, their targets have suffered from a combination of unclear definitions, shifting goalposts, inconsistent reporting, a complete lack of public accountability and, in some cases, being quietly dropped altogether.

We also found that a number of airlines have fallen back on the shaky promises of carbon offsetting to address their climate impacts despite acknowledging the fact that offsetting can not adequately reduce emissions. There are many problems with  offsetting schemes, including faulty calculations of the amount of carbon they absorb.

The UK government’s cleverly named Jet Zero strategy, which is due in July this year, is expected to go against the guidance from their advisors in the Climate Change Committee. The advisors have made clear that deliberate policies to manage growth in demand for air travel is needed to achieve the UK’s net zero goals. Instead, the Jet Zero strategy will rely on the aviation sector to reduce their own emissions while growing the number of flights they provide.

Our analysis of the past twenty years shows that this industry is incapable of meeting their own climate targets. How can we expect this industry to deliver on their latest promises when they never met any of their previous targets!?

We are calling for a new way to manage aviation emissions. We need a progressive tax on flying in order to fairly reduce demand for flights, rather than relying on the industry to cut its emissions on a trajectory of perpetual growth in passenger numbers. A frequent flyer levy is a popular and fair alternative to manage demand by placing a higher tax on individuals who fly more often, such as the 15% of people who take 70% of all flights.

A frequent flyer levy would be one of the most equitable and easily implementable methods to reduce aviation demand and emissions.