United chief warns of ‘dramatic’ impact of unchecked climate change

Human-influenced climate change is the “defining issue for our generation to solve”, in the view of United CE Scott Kirby, who says his passion for the subject is behind the carrier’s attempt to become an industry leader on sustainability. Kirby explained that since becoming chief executive of one of the world’s largest airlines last year, he has “a platform and position where I can make a difference”, alongside the ability to influence “how people feel about aviation” as concern about the sector’s environmental footprint grows. And in the months since taking over at United, Kirby has made clear his view that genuinely reducing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is the only way for aviation to meaningfully contribute towards humanity avoiding the most “dramatic” effects of climate change. He is therefore dismissive of carbon offsetting – “which is basically just planting trees” – describing it as a “fig leaf for a CEO to check a box, pretend that they’ve done the right thing for sustainability, when they haven’t made one whit of difference in the real world”.<br/>