ALTA Launches Its Work Committee Focused on the Environment

(Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA) (Google translation)) The environmental commitment of the global aviation industry is clear: to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. This ambitious goal will be possible thanks to the strong commitment of the entire value chain and technological advances and operational; however, there are still some challenges in the Latin American and Caribbean region to achieve it.

That is why the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA) consolidated a working group focused on four pillars: 1) Efficiency in operations and new technologies, 2) Sustainable aviation fuels SAF, 3) Compensation programs for emissions, 4) Economic instruments for climate change management.

The ALTA Environmental Committee, made up of airlines that operate in the region, elected Johanna Cabrera, LATAM sustainability manager, as President, who comments that she receives with great expectations the responsibility of being part of the leadership team of this working group which will be in charge of looking at relevant issues that will mark the sustainability of the industry in the region and the roadmap of the main projects focused on mitigating the environmental impacts of operations and maximizing the positive effects of air operations in the communities.

In its first virtual meeting in 2023, the committee had the participation of representatives of Aerolíneas Argentinas, Aeroméxico, Air Europa, Avianca, Copa Airlines, JetSMART, Iberia, LATAM, SKY Airline and VIVA. In addition to discussing the committee's pillars, operational initiatives, best practices in company recycling programs, and staff training in environmental matters were discussed.

“Dealing with climate change and its consequences is undoubtedly a high-priority agenda for many industries in this century. The aviation industry is innovative by nature and for several years it has implemented important measures to make its operations even more responsible with the environment. To continue advancing towards the ambitious objectives set, the coordination of efforts between the public and private sectors is essential. The evolution of the industry must be accompanied by intelligent regulations that generate efficiencies and not obstacles or additional costs. The role of the States to generate competitive and facilitative environments is fundamental”, highlights José Ricardo Botelho, executive director and CEO of ALTA

"In line with the objectives of the airline industry to move towards a more sustainable industry, collaborative work is key and it is precisely the value of this committee, here all the airlines work for the same goal; to establish standards in sustainability more and more rigorous and in line with global objectives”, points out Cabrera.

“About 65% of the total measures that will enable industry to reach net zero emissions by 2050 come from the large-scale deployment of the SAF. Latin America has a great availability of raw materials for the production of SAF in the world, only in Brazil, according to projections, about 9 billion liters of SAF can be produced with 5 raw materials, which reaffirms the importance of region in the supply of SAF worldwide. However, it is a priority to advance in the efforts to materialize this potential, the generation of incentives and enabling conditions that make the deployment of a SAF-producing industry viable is essential.

Along these lines, ALTA launched a face-to-face conference, the ALTA Fuel & Environment Conference, which will be held for the first time in San José, Costa Rica on March 29 and 30, 2023. The conference will offer senior representatives from the entire supply chain industry value academic forums, networking opportunities and roundtables to address, among other topics: local legal frameworks on the production, import and commercialization of SAF, sustainable airports and carbon offset mechanisms for airline passengers and aviation fuel market updates, infrastructure, tariffs and taxes.

ALTA is a private non-profit association at the service of the airline industry whose objective is to develop safer, more efficient and sustainable aviation in Latin America and the Caribbean. ALTA coordinates collaborative efforts throughout the entire value chain maximizing the impact that aviation has on the economic and social growth of the region for the benefit of the industry, nations and populations served by air transport. READ MORE