ALTA’s working committee focused on environmental issues hold its first 2023 meeting

The global environmental commitment of the aviation industry is clear: achieving zero net carbon emissions by 2050. This ambitious goal will be possible thanks to the strong commitment of the entire value chain and technological and operational advances; however, there are still some challenges in the Latin American and Caribbean region to achieve it.

This is why the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA) has consolidated a working group focused on four pillars: 1) Efficiency in operations and new technologies, 2) Sustainable Aviation Fuel SAF, 3) Emission Offset Programs, 4) Economic instruments for climate change management.

The ALTA Environment Committee, made up of airlines operating in the region, elected Johanna Cabrera, Sustainability Manager at LATAM, as Chairwoman, who commented that she receives with great expectations the responsibility for being part of this leadership team that will be in charge of dealing with relevant issues that will shape the sustainability of the industry in the region and the roadmap of the main projects focused on mitigating the environmental impacts of operations and maximizing the positive effects of air operations in the communities.

In its first 2023 virtual meeting, the committee was attended by representatives from Aerolíneas Argentinas, Aeroméxico, Air Europa, Avianca, Copa Airlines, JetSMART, Iberia, LATAM, SKY Airline, and VIVA. In addition to addressing the pillars of the committee, operational initiatives, best practices in company recycling programs, and staff training on environmental issues were discussed.

“Addressing climate change and its consequences is a priority agenda for many industries in this century. The aviation industry is innovative by nature and, for several years, has been implementing important measures to make its operations even more environmentally responsible. Coordinating efforts between the public and private sectors is essential to continue advancing toward the ambitious goals. The industry’s evolution must be accompanied by appropriate regulations that generate efficiencies rather than obstacles or additional costs. The States role in promoting a competitive and facilitating environment is fundamental,” highlights José Ricardo Botelho, ALTA’s Executive Director & CEO.

“In line with the goals of the aviation industry to advance towards a more sustainable industry, collaborative work is key and it is precisely the value of this committee, here all airlines work for the same purpose; to establish increasingly rigorous sustainability standards aligned with global goals,” Cabrera points out.

“Around 65% of the total measures that will allow the industry to reach the goal of zero net emissions in 2050 come from the large-scale deployment of SAF. Latin America has a large availability of raw materials for the production of SAF globally; in Brazil only, according to projections, can be produced about 9 billion liters of SAF with 5 raw materials, which reaffirms the importance of the region in the supply of SAF globally. However, it is a priority to advance in the efforts to materialize this potential, the generation of incentives, and enabling conditions that make deploying a SAF producing industry viable. I am confident that this working committee will generate important initiatives that will support our countries to make solid progress in competitive and consistent measures for the benefit of the planet, the industry, and the population”, Botelho adds.

Following this line, ALTA launched a new in-person event, the ALTA Fuel & Environment Conference, which will be held in San José, Costa Rica on March 29-30, 2023. The conference will provide senior representatives from across the industry value chain with academic forums, networking opportunities and roundtable discussions to address, among other topics: legal frameworks on the production, import and commercialization of SAF, sustainable airports and carbon offset mechanisms for airline passengers, and aviation fuel market updates, infrastructure, tariffs and taxes.

Registrations are limited. To book your participation please visit the website here: https://alta.aero/fuel/register-categories.