Business aviation has established an excellent record of consistently improving fuel efficiency, delivering 40 percent improvement over the past 40 years. Business aviation’s worldwide carbon emissions are approximately 2% of all aviation and .04% of global man-made carbon emissions. Despite this excellent record, the business aviation community has pledged to do even more by committing to the following specific targets:
- Carbon-neutral growth by 2020;
- An improvement in fuel efficiency of an average of 2 percent per year from today until 2020; and,
- A reduction in total carbon emissions of 50 percent by 2050 relative to 2005.
These aggressive targets are largely based on developments and advancements in four areas: technology, infrastructure and operational improvements, alternative fuels, and market based measures.
“Business aviation manufacturers and operators will put forth a sustained effort to meet these targets, but a strong partnership between industry and government is also absolutely necessary to achieve these goals,” said GAMA President and CEO, Pete Bunce. “We look forward to working hand-in-hand with all stakeholders to meet this critical global challenge of emissions reduction even as we grow to meet expanding demand for transportation.”
Don Spruston, director general of IBAC, added, “Business aviation wants to be an integral part of a comprehensive, ambitious and fair worldwide action to mitigate emissions. As a global industry, we believe that ICAO should be granted sectoral responsibility to develop a simple and straightforward system to address aviation emissions worldwide.”
GAMA and IBAC recognize Steve Ridolfi, president of business aircraft at Bombardier Aerospace, for his leadership of the GAMA Environment Committee and the strong technical support provided by Bombardier during the development of this important initiative.