Gulf airlines have recently began taking carbon emissions and environmental issues more seriously than before, amid rising international pressure. From this year, all airlines are being charged for carbon emission on flights to and from and within the European Union (EU) under its controversial Emissions Trading System (ETS). This covers passenger, cargo and non-commercial flights. A failure to comply with the ETS might cost Gulf carriers hundreds of millions of dollars in fees and penalties – a move that has come under serious attack from the global airline community. As an oil-producing region, the Middle East has long been considered a net emitter of carbon. However, a latest Deloitte whitepaper indicates that this perception now appears to be changing as the region takes steps to embrace green initiatives, including the airlines. More than 24 per cent of Emirates’ passenger and cargo operations fly to and from the European countries. The airline said that its compliance to the ETS might cost the airline 10 million euros ($12.5 million/Dh46 million) this year. Rather than face substantial financial penalties, Emirates has, under protest, fully complied with the EU ETS by submitting its 2010 and 2011 monitoring reports. “Our current estimations indicate that our compliance costs will be well over 10 million euros in 2012 and hundreds of million euros over the first nine years of the programme through to 2020,” Emirates said in its latest audited environment report released on the World Environment Day earlier this month. The report shows that Emirates Group’s total carbon emissions increased 10.7 per cent to 20.36 million tonnes during its last financial year ending March 31, 2012, up from 18.4 million tonnes recorded the previous year. Last year, the airline used 6.14 million tonnes of jet fuel emitting 19.35 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in to the air to carry 33.98 million passengers. However, in its 2010-2011 financial year, the airline carried 31.42 million passengers, using 5.61 million tonnes of jet fuel that emitted 17.7 million tonnes of carbon. “Emirates recognises that how an aircraft is flown can impact the environment. The airline has therefore partnered with various air navigation authorities around the world to test the most eco-efficient flight routings,” an airline spokesperson said. One recent example featured in the report was Emirates participation in the Indian Ocean Strategic Partnership to Reduce Emissions (INSPIRE) Programme. Emirates’ three test flights resulted in a combined fuel savings of nearly 7 tonnes of fuel and 22 tonnes of CO2 emissions. Although the aviation industry represents only two per cent of the global carbon emissions, it has come under heavy criticism from environmental lobbies. International Air Transport Association (IATA), the global aviation watchdog, and International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) are trying to push for attaining greater fuel efficiency by the airlines – by seeking green and clean energy to power the aircraft engines, including bio-fuels. “To meet our ambitious targets we will need a globally-agreed approach covering the areas of technology, operations, and infrastructure as well as positive market-based- measures. Everyone — including Europe — agrees that the solution must be a global agreement through ICAO at the 2013 assembly,” Tony Tyler, IATA’s Director-General and CEO, told delegates at the organisation’s annual conference in Beijing earlier this month. “But Europe’s unilateral and extra-territorial inclusion of international aviation in its emissions trading scheme from 2012 is creating discord when we need harmony.” In the Middle East, market forces and a changing competitive landscape are providing compelling reasons for the shift towards greener options. As such, many short term and medium term opportunities will continue to surface and impact the GCC region, suggests the Deloitte report. “In the near term, we expect to see several policy announcements and a push towards green energy... at the national and governmental levels,” said Declan Hayes, Managing Director, for Renewable Energy & Cleantech at Deloitte Middle East. “This is because it is the governments and national companies themselves who are currently bearing the impact of the costs and who see the financial incentive to initiate change,” he added. The UAE’s aviation regulator, General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) on June 9, issued the Environmental Policy of the civil aviation sector in the UAE that is expected to raise the country’s profile in green aviation movement. Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy and Chairman of the GCAA said: “The adoption of Environmental Policy for the civil aviation sector is a major step taken by the aviation sector to reaffirm its role within the fast paced growth it is witnessing. The Environment Policy complements the Green Economy strategy that was announced in January with the ultimate aim of achieving sustainable transport.” UAE’s leading airlines – Emirates and Etihad Airways – as well as Qatar Airways are trying to improve their carbon footprint despite growth in operations. They are, however, better off in many ways due to the acquisition of the latest energy efficient aircraft models, compared to ageing fleet run by most other airlines. Qatar Airways had earlier participated in the test flight on biofuels - a move once finalised, will reduce aviation industry’s reliance on jet fuel and reduce emissions. Etihad Airways, UAE flag carrier, has signed a contract with Airbus to equip 17 of its future A320s on order with Airbus’ fuel saving Sharklets. The new wingtip devices will reduce fuel burn particularly over longer sectors. Offered as an option on new-build aircraft from the end of 2012, the devices increase payload-range and improve take-off performance. The new wing tip devices will result in around 3.5 per cent reduced fuel burn over longer sectors, corresponding to an annual CO2 reduction of around 1,000 tonnes per aircraft. Etihad Airways President and Chief Executive Officer, James Hogan, said: “In today’s climate, our airline is fully focused on maximising the environmental efficiency of the entire fleet. By growing our fleet with the modern, fuel efficient Sharklet-equipped A320, we’ll be able to reduce fuel burn which is central to our goal of growing profitability in the years ahead.” With an average fleet age of only 6.4 years versus the global industry average of 11.3 years, Emirates airline says, its “fuel efficiency results are 22.5 per cent better than the IATA average and CO2 emissions are 18.1 per cent better than the IATA average”. Andrew Parker, Senior Vice-President, Public, Industry, International and Environmental Affairs, says, “As the Emirates Group grows across its various divisions, we fully recognise our environmental responsibility in the locations in which we operate and via the way we fly our aircraft. This report allows us to benchmark our performance against last year and with others in the industry, with the aim of maximising eco-efficiency to minimise our environmental footprint. “We have identified some clear successes, but the report also serves to highlight where we can look to improve.” The global air transport industry is committed to three sequential goals to manage its 2 per cent share of global manmade carbon emissions, IATA says. These are: to improve fuel efficiency 1.5 per cent annually to 2020; to cap net emissions from 2020 with carbon-neutral growth and to cut net emissions in half by 2050 compared with 2005 levels. To achieve these ambitious goals the industry is pursuing a four-pillar strategy based on more technology investments, efficient infrastructure, better operations, and globally agreed positive market measures, ideally a single, global mechanism to offset some emissions. “Sustainability should unite the world with common purpose, not divide it with affronts to sovereignty that risk a trade war, a war that nobody wants and from which no winner can emerge,” argues Tyler. “Certainly no airline—European or otherwise—should be a target for retaliation because European governments are acting extra-territorially.” However, other Gulf airlines, such as Saudi Arabian Airlines, Kuwait Airways, Oman Air, Gulf Air and others should also undertake environment policies to try and contain carbon emissions. For a start, they could follow Emirates’ footsteps in developing audited environment reports to measure the carbon emission. Emirates’ environment report is, in many ways, an eye-opener and could serve as a model for the rest. From gulfnews