The airline industry will make a pledge to halve its carbon emissions by 2050 ahead of the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit.
British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh will make the proposal today in New York to a United Nations forum on climate change.
He is set to tell the forum that the 230 IATA-member airlines have agreed to not only halve their carbon emissions by 2050 but also improve CO2 efficiency by 1.5% and achieve carbon-neutral growth by 2020.
The announcement is being made to pre-empt the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit 2009 in December, which will be attended by 250 heads of government, environmentalists and businessmen from around the world.
Walsh said: “The forthcoming Copenhagen summit represents a historic opportunity for aviation to join the mainstream of the world’s efforts to combat climate change.
“International aviation emissions were not included in the Kyoto Protocol 12 years ago. Now we have a chance to rectify that omission – and we must seize it.
“Our proposals represent the most environmentally effective and practical means of reducing aviation’s carbon impact. They are the best option for the planet, and we urge the UN to adopt them.”
IATA environment director Paul Steele added: “The aviation industry is united in its support for a global sectoral approach to emissions reduction.
“This is what Copenhagen can achieve. The alternative of a patchwork of national and regional policies will lead to conflicting and overlapping regulation, competitive distortion and, potentially, an increase in carbon emissions.”