Invest in environmental tech: IATA

New Delhi: The International Air Transport Association has asked all countries to invest more effectively in environmental technologies, including biofuel and advanced traffic management systems, to reduce carbon emissions.

India has already initiated the process of straightening and shortening air routes over its airspace. The Airports Authority of India and the Indian Space Research Organisation are working on the GAGAN project to provide satellite-based navigation and air traffic management system over the oceans and the entire sub-continental land mass.

'IATA's four-pillar strategy on climate change is now an industry commitment. This commitment will drive us forward, first to our 25 per cent fuel efficiency improvement target and more importantly towards our vision of carbon neutral growth, leading to a carbon emission-free industry,' IATA Director General and CEO Giovanni Bisignani said at the Aviation and Environment Summit held in Geneva recently.

Bisignani made a strong plea to the European Union to work towards a single European Sky, saying such a move 'could save 12 million tonnes of carbon dioxide at one stroke.'

Maintaining that environmental responsibility was 'a core promise' of the aviation industry, along with safety and security, he said, 'We took this responsibility seriously long before Kyoto, and with impressive results — a 70 per cent improvement in fuel efficiency over the last four decades. All the industry partners have a common goal of ensuring that aviation becomes a benchmark of environmental responsibility.

'Governments must play their part if we are to succeed. They must invest more effectively in environmental technologies, from alternative fuels to radical dynamics,' Bisignani was quoted as saying in an IATA release.

The IATA director-general also stressed the need for governments to supplement IATA's efforts at implementing next generation traffic management systems globally.

The meeting discussed the measures adopted by industry to limit environmental impact and debated actions that would help in achieving carbon-neutral growth and carbon-free technology.