European airlines hone plan to tackle backlash over emissions

Bloomberg

Europe’s airlines are coalescing around a two-pronged response to a public backlash over carbon emissions.
Carriers initially plan to extend the use of offsets like tree planting to compensate for greenhouse-gas output while also embracing sustainable biofuels, executives from companies including Deutsche Lufthansa AG, EasyJet Plc and IAG’s British Airways arm said at a conference in Berlin.
That’s before a longer-term fix from the introduction of hybrid and fully-electric jetliners becomes available, most likely in the 2030s.
Airlines are bracing for regulatory interventions aimed at slashing emissions as new European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen prepares to unveil a package dubbed the “Green New Deal.” So-called flight shaming is also taking root as a concern for carriers as campaigners including Greta Thunberg and groups such as Extinction Rebellion protest against air travel.
“Aviation will have to substantially reduce its carbon emissions if it wants to grow,” Filip Cornelis, the European Commission’s director for aviation, said at the IATA’s Wings of Change conference in Berlin.
The United Nations (UN) says aviation is set to overtake power generation as the single biggest CO2 producer within three decades.