As air transport grew, its contribution to climate change came under increasing scrutiny, leading to coordinated policy and industry responses aligned with the Paris Agreement. Aviation was not explicitly covered by national emissions targets under Paris, but ICAO and industry bodies developed parallel mechanisms, notably the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) and long term decarbonization roadmaps. In 2021, IATA member airlines formally committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions from operations by 2050, matching the broader climate objective of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees and requiring a combination of efficiency measures, sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), new propulsion technologies, and market based measures.
Meeting these goals poses major technological, financial, and policy challenges for airlines and the wider ecosystem. Large scale deployment of SAF demands new production capacity, supportive regulation, and pricing frameworks, while incremental improvements in aircraft and air traffic management efficiency must be sustained to limit emissions growth from rising demand. Governments, through ICAO and regional policies, have begun to align regulatory frameworks and incentives with net zero objectives, signaling that future competitiveness in air transport will depend not only on cost and connectivity but also on the ability to decouple growth from carbon emissions.
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