World: Airlines lack clear flight path to lower carbon emissions, researchers say

Some of the world's largest airlines have yet to set long-term targets to reduce their climate-changing emissions, climate and economic researchers warned Tuesday. Top publicly listed airlines have cut their "emissions intensity" - how much pollution they produce for the same amount of activity - significantly in recent years, said researchers from the London School of Economics’ Grantham Research Institute. But they are not making clear plans for the much larger emissions reductions needed to meet internationally agreed climate goals, the researchers said. Beyond 2020 and particularly in the long-term "the targets these airlines have set to reduce their emissions are not clearly consistent with the Paris Agreement goals,” said Simon Dietz, co-author of a study released Tuesday. The Paris goals, agreed by world governments in 2015, call for keeping global temperature rise to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius and ideally to 1.5C above pre-industrial times. The study, which looked at 20 of the world’s largest publicly listed airlines, noted that air travel currently accounts for about 2% of global carbon dioxide emissions, and 12% of transport-related emissions. Cutting those emissions - and emissions from shipping - is particularly challenging because their mobile nature makes it harder for companies to use clean energy sources such as solar or wind power. Alternative fuels, such as hydrogen, may offer long-term solutions but are still being developed.<br/>