The UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) recently reaffirmed the country’s commitment to supporting international cooperation efforts in reducing the aviation sector’s carbon emissions during its participation in the IATA 80th Annual General Meeting (AGM) & World Air Transport Summit 2024 in Dubai last week.
The meeting and summit addressed ways to promote, accelerate and incentivize the global increase in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production. In the path of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, SAF and alternative fuels have emerged as central topics in discussions, meetings and international conferences concerning the future of the aviation industry.
For her part, Maryam Ali Al Balooshi, environment manager at GCAA and vice chair of the ICAO Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP), explained that alternative aviation fuel has become a key priority on the UAE’s government agenda. Al Balooshi also noted that the UAE has taken several steps to develop an enabling environment for the production of clean, sustainable, and low-carbon fuels for the aviation sector.
SAF to reduce 65 percent of emissions
In light of the growing sustainability initiatives in the aviation sector, IATA suggests that the anticipated traffic of the industry in 2050 will likely generate 1.8 billion tons of carbon emissions if fueled by traditional jet kerosene. To achieve net-zero emissions, IATA predicts that SAF will accomplish a 65 percent decrease in total emissions. That is equivalent to more than 360 million tons of SAF annually by 2050.
In this context, Al Balooshi discussed the UAE’s adoption of the Sustainable Aviation Market (SAM 2025) initiative, which the country plans to organize next year in addition to hosting the 4th International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Global Implementation Support Symposium in 2025.
This market aims to facilitate the acceleration of global production of SAF and low-carbon fuels. Moreover, it seeks to provide an environmental platform facilitating communication among project developers, funders, banks, small and medium-sized enterprises, and other stakeholders across the UAE and global aviation sector.
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Global efforts progress SAF production
Data from the ICAO reveals that international efforts to enhance the production of SAF are making continuous progress. The organization reveals that 122 airports globally are already distributing SAF. Moreover, there are 53 billion liters under offtake agreements and 313 announced facilities for SAF and LCAF in addition to 23 stakeholder action groups. Furthermore, the ICAO CORSIA has so far recognized 42 feedstocks for the fuel’s production.
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