Air New Zealand Scraps Carbon Emissions Target
Air New Zealand has scrapped its 2030 goal to reduce carbon emissions due to difficulties in producing new planes and sourcing alternative fuel.
The country's national airline has become one of the first to back away from its climate targets.
And experts think that other airlines will follow Air New Zealand and abandon their own plans.
A lot has changed since 2022 when the airline said it would reduce its carbon emissions by 28.9% by 2030.
In its advertising, the airline has often aligned itself with the New Zealand's "clean and green" image, including through the content of its in-flight safety videos.
Air New Zealand said it was still committed to a target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050, in line with the Paris Agreement.
Global manufacturing and supply chain issues could slow the introduction of more fuel-efficient planes into Air New Zealand's fleet, CEO Greg Foran said.
The "affordability and availability of alternative jet fuels" and global and domestic policy settings are also "outside the airline's direct control," he added.
His remarks demonstrated the problems that the aviation sector is facing worldwide.
Air travel makes up about 2.5% of global carbon emissions, but it's one of the most carbon-intensive activities per passenger. Production of more efficient planes is behind schedule and improvements in reducing fuel burn are slow.
Analysts have long warned that the volume of sustainable fuel being produced is a small fraction of demand.
Some politicians have argued that governments need to be involved, to ensure that airlines are better equipped to meet their climate targets.
James Higham, a tourism expert from Griffith University in Australia, said the only way for airlines to really reduce aviation emissions was to fly less.
"Air New Zealand has tried everything really, sustainable aviation fuels and carbon offsetting programs, and it all sounds good but nothing's changing," he said.
