- The world’s airlines have agreed to set tougher standards on engine emissions and fuel efficiency.
The new standards were agreed to at a meeting in Montreal where the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has its headquarters.
IATA represents 230 of the world’s airlines.
It says air carriers, airports and aerospace companies have pledged to improve fuel efficiency by 1.5 per cent a year between now and 2020.
They also agreed to setting a goal of carbon-neutral growth within the same period, and to a 50 per cent net reduction of carbon emissions in 2050 compared to 2005 levels.
The IATA’s director general says no other industry has been able to achieve what the airlines have agreed to for the long term, and it is now up to governments to catch up.
But critics fear the plan includes offsetting and buying carbon credits.
They accuse the airlines of trying to head-off harsh treatment of the industry at the UN’s climate summit in Copenhagen in December.
By Dan Karpenchuk in Toronto
