Qantas calls for SAF mandate, rolls out $400m sustainability bond

Qantas has announced a A$400m sustainability fund and is calling for the Australian government to mandate blending sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to cut carbon emissions. Unveiled as part of the airline’s 2023 Investor Day, the fund will include Qantas’s existing $290m partnership with Airbus to develop an Australian SAF industry, and will add an extra $110m for projects such as “high-integrity carbon offsets, offshore SAF investments, and operational efficiency technologies”. Qantas Group chief sustainability officer Andrew Parker said the airline needs to “turbocharge” its climate efforts to reach its goal of a 25% cut in emissions by 2030 and net zero by 2050. “We’re backing our targets with an expanded investment of up to $400m to help projects get off the ground, because it’s new technologies and bringing proven solutions to scale that will deliver the emissions reductions we need, and protect the future of travel in the process,” he said. “Governments around Australia are making important progress on working with industry to help decarbonise, and we welcome that. Creating markets for new fuels is a critical part of tackling climate change, which is why we’re today calling for a SAF mandate to be introduced to catalyse the development of the industry.” Parker noted that several of its destination countries already have SAF blending mandates of 5-10% by 2030, and that Australia is well-placed to create a domestic SAF industry.<br/>