Big airlines’ are betting on false solutions to cut emissions, Greenpeace says

Large airlines such as Lufthansa, Air France-KLM and Ryanair mainly rely on false and ineffective solutions to cut emissions, casting doubts over their commitment to slow climate change, a new report found. Europe’s seven-largest airline groups would need to reduce at least 2% of flights annually by 2040 to cut their greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris Agreement, according to a report by Observatorio RSC commissioned by Greenpeace. But the companies analyzed have not made goals to cut annual emissions, promised to reduce flights or pledged to fully decarbonize by 2040. “European airlines are putting up a smokescreen of false solutions that sound great, but in effect keep transport hooked on oil,” said Herwig Schuster, spokesperson for Greenpeace’s European Mobility For All campaign. “Even in the face of a climate emergency, airlines carry on polluting the air and hide their dirty business behind a wall of greenwashing.” The study focused mainly on airlines’ environmental performance from 2018 to 2020 — before the industry was hit by the global pandemic. However, the researchers also looked at whether bailout and stimulus funds distributed during the crisis encouraged any more sustainable business practices. Aviation was Europe’s second-largest contributor of transport emissions in 2017 and was one of the fastest growing sources of carbon pollution before the pandemic. In 2019, the airlines analyzed in the report were responsible for emissions equivalent to the annual carbon footprint of Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland combined, according to Greenpeace. While the coronavirus pandemic grounded flights and brought the sector to a halt, activity is picking up again. Researchers analyzed commitments by Lufthansa, Air France-KLM, IAG, Ryanair, easyJet, SAS and TAP Air Portugal on several environmental, social and governance fronts. Using publicly available information, they ranked them and gave them scores.<br/>