'Great Green Scam': IATA Chief Blames EU, Fuel Giants for Slow Climate Progress

The head of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Willie Walsh, is blaming governments and fuel producers for stalling progress on aviation’s climate goals.

Speaking at an aviation meeting in India on Monday, Walsh said governments, particularly the European Union, have failed to provide the support needed to scale sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

“From the outset we made it clear that it would be challenging and that the airlines could not do this on their own,” he said. “Despite their enthusiasm, governments did not create a supportive policy framework to meet their 2030 interim target. The companies we need to be major SAF players like BP and Shell have cut back or delayed their investment.”

According to IATA, when airlines use SAF in the EU, they have to pay compliance fees which cover the cost of blending the fuel and checking it meets the policy’s requirements.

“It is an outrage that suppliers are charging airlines compliance fees that value SAF at double its market premium over conventional jet fuel. That’s a billion-dollar windfall for fuel suppliers. This is the EU's great green scam.”

In 2021, IATA member airlines, which represent most of the global aviation sector, committed to reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050. But with demand for flying rebounding sharply post-pandemic, progress has been slow.

Governments gave airlines an interim target of reducing emissions by 5% by 2030. However, after a drop in emissions during Covid-19, airline emissions are expected to return to, or even exceed 2019 levels this year, according to Carbon Action Tracker.

Walsh directed his sharpest criticism at the European Union’s current policy, which requires airlines to use at least 2% SAF in their fuel mix by 2030.

“The EU mandate of 2% SAF in the jet fuel supply has succeeded in raising costs but has done nothing to improve production,” Walsh said.

Fuels Europe, which represents companies like BP and Shell, have rejected the aviation industry’s claims.

“We reject claims from the aviation sector suggesting a lack of sustainable aviation fuel supply,” the group said in a statement. “Our members are on track to meet their current mandate and exceed 2030 targets. Despite policy and investment challenges, European fuel producers have rapidly scaled SAF output and lowered costs.”

An EU spokesperson told Skift it is helping with the transition to SAF through a range of initiatives such as its Refuel EU program and that the current targets are "realistic and feasible."

"The implementation of ReFuelEU Aviation has already begun to stimulate production capacity within the EU, with SAF supply starting to outpace mandated minimum shares. This is a positive and necessary signal," the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said the EU is watching the price of SAF closely and recognizes that there continues to be "significant barriers to commercial deployment, primarily due to insufficient investment." They said there will be a dialogue on SAF later this year, with the goal of improving financing and de-risking investment.

Skift’s in-depth reporting on climate issues is made possible through the financial support of Intrepid Travel. This backing allows Skift to bring you high-quality journalism on one of the most important topics facing our planet today. Intrepid is not involved in any decisions made by Skift’s editorial team.

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