The International Air Transport Association (IATA) noted the European Commission’s release of the Sustainable Transport Investment Plan (STIP) as a significant step in recognizing the urgent need to accelerate air transport’s decarbonization. The plan addresses several long-standing weaknesses in the EU’s aviation decarbonization strategy, but more action is still needed.
“We welcome the Commission’s recognition of market challenges that derive from SAF mandates that were flawed from the outset, particularly the price gap between sustainable and conventional fuels, and the need for robust investment support. Extending SAF support under the EU ETS, exploring tradable SAF and book-and-claim mechanisms, simplifying operator reporting, improving access to sustainability certificates via the Union Database (UDB), and advancing dual conformance of SAF under EU RED and CORSIA to promote global harmonization are positive steps but we need to see how words turn into reality. Particularly, we are concerned that the STIP falls short of critical industry expectations. We hope this is just the start of a continued review of EU aviation sustainability initiatives which will ultimately lead to a more efficient and successful program of decarbonization for aviation,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General. (Press release)
