Aviation in a low carbon world
- Aug 13, 2009
Flying is crucial to the global economy and central to many people’s lifestyles – it links families, communities, and businesses resulting in vibrant and successful cultures and economies. Compared to other industries, aviation emits a small percentage of the world’s greenhouse gases (GHGs); however, these emissions are emitted at altitude, they often cause contrails, and they are growing as more and more people fly.
As a result, we are committed to ensuring that Virgin branded airlines not only grow responsibly, but also remain committed to finding solutions that will make a low carbon aviation industry possible in the foreseeable future. While the pace of change to reduce carbon emissions is heavily reliant on new aircraft and new engines, new biofuels, and more efficient airspace use, we are committed to making each of these things happen sooner.
In addition, we are also committed to our continued investment in new aircraft and use of operational practices that already reduce our current emissions. Finally, and most importantly, we believe that it is critical for all airlines to embrace a global emissions cap and trade scheme that will ensure our global airline industry measures, manages, and ultimately reduces its GHG emissions--so that we can help do our part to control global warming.
To that end, we believe it is critical that the European Union, the United States and other countries adopt a cap and trade scheme that is integrated with the Copenhagen framework. We believe that is the only way we can ensure a successful worldwide solution for a worldwide problem.
- The following document has been created in collaboration with the Virgin airlines and outlines our views and actions on Climate Change and Aviation:
download the full 'Aviation in a low carbon world' document now (PDF, 462 KB)
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