Fly green or die: EU urged to stop reforming and start investing in aviation

By Tommaso Lecca | 10/11/2024 06:12 AM EDT

The industry has had enough of new regulations to reduce emissions. Now it wants the money to do so.

An airplane leaves a vapor trail as it flies in front of the moon.

Pressure on Brussels is growing from the industry and from governments. Alexander Hassenstein/AFP via Getty Images

This article is the product of a POLITICO Working Group presented by GE Aerospace.

BRUSSELS — After years of legislation and target-setting to reduce aviation emissions, the sector has a message for the EU: Give us a break!

Unlike carmakers, aviation representatives are not asking for green targets to be watered down. They are simply fed up with decadeslong road maps to slash emissions from aviation, which account for about 4 percent of the bloc’s CO2 pollution. They’re asking for an end to reform and lots more cash.

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Instead of new green regulations, “what I would rather expect is to see new programs, new projects that would support the development of the sector and help bring the price down,” said Piotr Dziubak, head of the international affairs unit of the aviation department at the Polish ministry of infrastructure.

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