IATA urges government action as it forecasts $128bn annual net-zero spend

Airline association IATA forecasts an average of $128 billion in annual capital expenditure will be needed for the airline industry to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. It made the prediction as it released new finance and policy road maps during its World Sustainability Symposium event in Miami on 24 September, where it insisted that the air transport industry’s energy transition is feasible, but only if stakeholders – and governments in particular – collaborate and act with greater urgency. Describing the $128 billion forecast as a “best-case scenario”, IATA notes that it is “significantly less” than total investments in solar and wind energy markets between 2004 and 2022, which it puts at around $280 billion. The capital will fund building new facilities, including the sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) refineries that are central to the sector’s net-zero road map, IATA says.<br/>