Aviation Industry Commits to "Carbon-Neutral" Growth by 2020

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced plans to achieve "carbon-neutral" growth by 2020.

Giovanni Bisignani, IATA's Director General and CEO, said, “Two years ago we set a vision to achieve carbon-neutral growth on the way to a carbon-free future. Today we have taken a major step forward by committing to a global cap on our emissions in 2020. After this date, aviation’s emissions will not grow even as demand increases. Airlines are the first global industry to make such a bold commitment.”

The IATA has defined three goals for air transport:

1. Fuel efficiency improvement of 1.5% average from 2009 to 2020;
2. From 2020, carbon-neutral growth; and
3. Absolute reductions in carbon emissions of 50% by 2050.

And I didn't think the airline industry wanted any part of reducing greenhouse emissions -- by regulation or otherwise.

At the rate we are going, the Colorado Rapids American professional soccer team will soon announce that it will be joining the English Premier League by 2050 too.