Global commercial aviation policies in the context of the climate crisis and an analysis of these approaches from the perspective of Türkiye

Abstract

The climate crisis is becoming more visible day by day and is affecting the ecological system more and more. However, despite such a visible threat and its severe effects, efforts at the national and international levels are far from tackling the climate crisis. Especially with its rapid growth and ever-increasing emission rates, the commercial aviation sector remains inadequate in combating the climate crisis. This study discusses the global and Turkish commercial aviation sectors’ struggles with the climate crisis. As a result, both international and domestic commercial aviation sectors follow an unrealistic attitude in the fight against the climate crisis, and there is still a long way to go.

Keywords

• Climate crisis
• commercial aviation sector
• Turkish aviation sector
• United Nations
• Paris Aggreement

References

1. ACI Europe. (2020). European airports report slower passenger growth & declining freight in 2019. https://www.aci-europe.org/media-room/235-european-airports-report-slower-passenger-growth-declining-freight-in-2019.html
2. Ahmad, S., & Xu, B. (2021). A cognitive mapping approach to analyse stakeholders’ perspectives on sustainable aviation fuels. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 100, 103076. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2021.103076
3. Airbus. (2020). Airbus reveals new zero-emission concept aircraft. https://www.airbus.com/sites/g/files/jlcbta136/files/d82a792c20d166f4700d20c013fead8a_EN-Airbus-unveils-ZEA-concepts.pdf
4. Airbus. (2021). How to store liquid hydrogen for zero-emission flight. https://www.airbus.com/en/newsroom/news/2021-12-how-to-store-liquid-hydrogen-for-zero-emission-flight
5. Altus, S. (2009). AERO - Effective Flight Plans Can Help Airlines Economize. Boeing. https://www.boeing.com/commercial/aeromagazine/articles/qtr_03_09/article_08_1.html
6. Anger, A. (2010). Including aviation in the European emissions trading scheme: Impacts on the industry, CO2 emissions and macroeconomic activity in the EU. Journal of Air Transport Management, 16(2), 100–105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jairtraman.2009.10.009
7. Anger, A., & Köhler, J. (2010). Including aviation emissions in the EU ETS: Much ado about nothing? A review. Transport Policy, 17(1), 38–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2009.10.010
8. Aro, E.-M. (2016). From first generation biofuels to advanced solar biofuels. Ambio, 45(S1), 24–31. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-015-0730-0

9. ATAG. (2011). Powering the future of flight The six easy steps to growing a viable aviation biofuels industry. https://seors.unfccc.int/applications/seors/attachments/get_attachment?code=GRPR31ZA287D3KAP5XOXQO2WP1JE9SQQ
10. Atmosfair. (2021). Criticism of CORSIA, the aviation industry’s offsetting scheme. https://www.atmosfair.de/en/criticism-of-corsia-aviation-offsetting-scheme/
11. Baroutaji, A., Wilberforce, T., Ramadan, M., & Olabi, A. G. (2019). Comprehensive investigation on hydrogen and fuel cell technology in the aviation and aerospace sectors. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 106, 31–40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2019.02.022
12. Berseneff, B., Fiette, S., & Van, A.-L. B. (2021). A reduced battery system model and sizing algorithm for future hybrid electric airplanes architectures studies. IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering.
13. Bicer, Y., & Dincer, I. (2017). Life cycle evaluation of hydrogen and other potential fuels for aircrafts. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 42(16), 10722–10738. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2016.12.119
14. Boehm, R. C., Scholla, L. C., & Heyne, J. S. (2021). Sustainable alternative fuel effects on energy consumption of jet engines. Fuel, 304, 121378. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2021.121378
15. Capoccitti, S., Khare, A., & Mildenberger, U. (2010). Aviation Industry - Mitigating Climate Change Impacts through Technology and Policy. Journal of Technology Management & Innovation, 5(2), 66–75. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-27242010000200006
16. Chiaramonti, D., Talluri, G., Vourliotakis, G., Testa, L., Prussi, M., & Scarlat, N. (2021). Can Lower Carbon Aviation Fuels (LCAF) Really Complement Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) towards EU Aviation Decarbonization? Energies, 14(19), 1–28. https://doi.org/10.3390/en14196430
17. Ching, Y. M. (2021). My Say: Getting the aviation industry to act on climate change. https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/my-say-getting-aviation-industry-act-climate-change
18. CJEU. (2011). Court of Justice of the European Union. C-366/10. https://curia.europa.eu/juris/liste.jsf?language=en&num=C-366/10
19. Colantuono, R. (2021). Market-based measures and aviation sustainability in the European Union: an assessment. http://www.sustainability-seeds.org/papers/RePec/srt/wpaper/0921.pdf
20. Crook, J. R. (2008). Possible Looming Conflict with EU Regulation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Civil Aviation; United States Prefers ICAO Action. American Journal of International Law, 102(1), 171–173.
21. DEHSt. (2012). Allocation of Emission Allowances to Aircraft Operators for Trading Periods 2012 and 2013-2020. https://www.dehst.de/SharedDocs/downloads/EN/aircraft-operators/Aviation_Allocation_report.pdf
22. Demailly, D., & Quirion, P. (2008). European Emission Trading Scheme and competitiveness: A case study on the iron and steel industry. Energy Economics, 30(4), 2009–2027. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2007.01.020
23. Efthymiou, M., & Papatheodorou, A. (2019). EU Emissions Trading scheme in aviation: Policy analysis and suggestions. Journal of Cleaner Production, 237, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.117734
24. EIA. (2021). Biomass explained. U.S. Energy Information Administration. https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/biomass/
25. Engels, A. (2009). The European Emissions Trading Scheme: An exploratory study of how companies learn to account for carbon. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 34(3–4), 488–498. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aos.2008.08.005
26. EUR-Lex. (2013). Decision No 377/2013/EU Of The European Parliament and Of The Council. The European Parliament and The Council Of The European Union. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32013D0377
27. European Commission. (2019). Taxes in the Field of Aviation and their impact. https://bevarjordforbindelsen.dk/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/EURapportjuni2019.pdf
28. European Commission. (2022a). Aviation and the EU ETS. https://ec.europa.eu/clima/eu-action/european-green-deal/delivering-european-green-deal/aviation-and-eu-ets_en
29. European Commission. (2022b). EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). https://ec.europa.eu/clima/eu-action/eu-emissions-trading-system-eu-ets_en
30. Ganguly, I., Pierobon, F., Bowers, T. C., Huisenga, M., Johnston, G., & Eastin, I. L. (2018). ‘Woods-to-Wake’ Life Cycle Assessment of residual woody biomass based jet-fuel using mild bisulfite pretreatment. Biomass and Bioenergy, 108, 207–216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2017.10.041
31. General Directorate of Civil Aviation. (2014). 2013 Yılı Faaliyet Raporu. http://web.shgm.gov.tr/tr/kurumsal/4006-faaliyet-raporlarimiz
32. General Directorate of Civil Aviation. (2015). 2014 Yılı Faaliyet Raporu. http://web.shgm.gov.tr/tr/kurumsal/4006-faaliyet-raporlarimiz
33. General Directorate of Civil Aviation. (2017). 2016 Yılı Faaliyet Raporu. http://web.shgm.gov.tr/tr/kurumsal/4006-faaliyet-raporlarimiz
34. General Directorate of Civil Aviation. (2020). 2019 Yılı Faaliyet Raporu. http://web.shgm.gov.tr/tr/kurumsal/4006-faaliyet-raporlarimiz
35. González, R., & Hosoda, E. B. (2016). Environmental impact of aircraft emissions and aviation fuel tax in Japan. Journal of Air Transport Management, 57, 234–240. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jairtraman.2016.08.006
36. Gürçam, S. (2021). İklim Değişikliği İle Mücadele Çerçevesinde Türkiye’nin Sivil Havacılık Emisyonlarının: Uluslararası Sözleşmeler ve Uygulamalar Açısından Analizi. Doktora Tezi. İstanbul Yeni Yüzyıl Üniversitesi.
37. Gürçam, S. (2022). The Neoliberal Initiative of the Aviation Industry to Fight the Climate Crisis: Greenwashing. International Journal of Environment and Geoinformatics, 9(3), 178–186. https://doi.org/10.30897/ijegeo.1083921
38. Han, H., Chua, B.-L., & Hyun, S. S. (2020). Consumers’ intention to adopt eco-friendly electric airplanes: The moderating role of perceived uncertainty of outcomes and attachment to eco-friendly products. International Journal of Sustainable Transportation, 14(9), 671–685. https://doi.org/10.1080/15568318.2019.1607957
39. Han, H., Lee, M. J., Chua, B.-L., & Kim, W. (2019). Triggers of traveler willingness to use and recommend eco-friendly airplanes. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 38, 91–101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm.2019.01.001
40. Han, H., Yu, J., & Kim, W. (2019). Investigating airline customers’ decision-making process for emerging environmentally-responsible electric airplanes: Influence of gender and age. Tourism Management Perspectives, 31, 85–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2019.03.013
41. Hoelzen, J., Silberhorn, D., Zill, T., Bensmann, B., & Hanke-Rauschenbach, R. (2022). Hydrogen-powered aviation and its reliance on green hydrogen infrastructure – Review and research gaps. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 47(5), 3108–3130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2021.10.239
42. Hoffmann, V. H., Trautmann, T., & Schneider, M. (2008). A taxonomy for regulatory uncertainty—application to the European Emission Trading Scheme. Environmental Science & Policy, 11(8), 712–722. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2008.07.001
43. IATA. (2015). Sustainable Aviation Fuel Roadmap. https://www.iata.org/contentassets/d13875e9ed784f75bac90f000760e998/safr-1-2015.pdf
44. ICAO. (2016). ICAO Environmental Report 2016 Aviation And Climate Change. https://www.icao.int/environmental-protection/pages/env2016.aspx
45. ICAO. (2018). Presentation of 2018 Air Transport statistical results. https://www.icao.int/annual-report-2018/Pages/the-world-of-air-transport-in-2018-statistical-results.aspx
46. ICAO. (2019). Presentation of 2019 Air Transport statistical results. https://www.icao.int/annual-report-2019/Pages/the-world-of-air-transport-in-2019-statistical-results.aspx
47. ICAO. (2021). Over 100 States now participate in ICAO’s Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA). https://www.icao.int/Newsroom/Pages/Over-100-States-now-participate-in-ICAOs-Carbon-Offsetting-and-Reduction-Scheme-for-International-Aviation-CORSIA.aspx
48. ICAO. (2022). Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF). https://www.icao.int/environmental-protection/pages/SAF.aspx
49. International Energy Agency. (2021). Net Zero by 2050 A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector. https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/deebef5d-0c34-4539-9d0c-10b13d840027/NetZeroby2050-ARoadmapfortheGlobalEnergySector_CORR.pdf
50. IPCC. (2022). Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change Summary for Policymakers. https://report.ipcc.ch/ar6wg3/pdf/IPCC_AR6_WGIII_SummaryForPolicymakers.pdf
51. Jain, I. P. (2009). Hydrogen the fuel for 21st century. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 34(17), 7368–7378. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2009.05.093
52. Lai, Y. Y., Christley, E., Kulanovic, A., Teng, C. C., Björklund, A., Nordensvärd, J., Karakaya, E., & Urban, F. (2022). Analysing the opportunities and challenges for mitigating the climate impact of aviation: A narrative review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 156, 111972. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2021.111972
53. Larsson, J., Elofsson, A., Sterner, T., & Åkerman, J. (2019). International and national climate policies for aviation: a review. Climate Policy, 19(6), 787–799. https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2018.1562871
54. Leggett, J. A., Elias, B., & Shedd, D. T. (2012). Aviation and the European Union’s Emission Trading Scheme. https://sgp.fas.org/crs/row/R42392.pdf
55. Liao, W., Fan, Y., & Wang, C. (2022). How does COVID-19 affect the implementation of CORSIA? Journal of Air Transport Management, 99, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jairtraman.2022.102180
56. Lyle, C. (2018). Beyond the icao’s corsia: Towards a More Climatically Effective Strategy for Mitigation of Civil-Aviation Emissions. Climate Law, 8(1–2), 104–127. https://doi.org/10.1163/18786561-00801004
57. Mai, D. T. T. (2021). Revising the EU ETS and CORSIA in times of the COVID-19 pandemic: challenges for reducing global aviation emissions. Climate Policy, 21(10), 1357–1367. https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2021.1966358
58. Malina, R., McConnachie, D., Winchester, N., Wollersheim, C., Paltsev, S., & Waitz, I. A. (2012). The impact of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme on US aviation. Journal of Air Transport Management, 19, 36–41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jairtraman.2011.12.004
59. Mazraati, M., & Alyousif, O. M. (2009). Aviation fuel demand modelling in OECD and developing countries: impacts of fuel efficiency. OPEC Energy Review, 33(1), 23–46. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1753-0237.2009.00161.x
60. Meleo, L. (2014). On the determinants of industrial competitiveness: The European Union emission trading scheme and the Italian paper industry. Energy Policy, 74, 535–546. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2014.06.030
61. Milliyet News. (2022). THY çevreci yakıtla uçuşa geçti. https://www.milliyet.com.tr/ekonomi/thy-cevreci-yakitla-ucusa-gecti-6693109
62. Miyoshi, C. (2014). Assessing the equity impact of the European Union Emission Trading Scheme on an African airline. Transport Policy, 33, 56–64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2014.02.010
63. Mohammadi, F. (2018). Research in the Past, Present and Future Solar Electric Aircraf. Journal of Solar Energy Research (JSER), 3(3), 237–248.
64. Mohr, A., & Raman, S. (2013). Lessons from first generation biofuels and implications for the sustainability appraisal of second generation biofuels. Energy Policy, 63, 114–122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2013.08.033
65. Nippon Communications Foundation. (2021). Japan to End Aviation Fuel Tax Cut as Coronavirus Reflief. https://www.nippon.com/en/news/yjj2021120400367/
66. Niranjan, A., & Schacht, K. (2021). CORSIA: World’s biggest plan to make flying green “too broken to fix.” https://www.dw.com/en/corsia-climate-flying-emissions-offsets/a-56309438
67. Pegasus Airlines. (2020). Pegasus Hava Taşımacılığı Anonim Şirketi Kurumsal Sürdürülebilirlik Raporu 2020. https://www.pegasusyatirimciiliskileri.com/medium/image/pgsus-2020-surdurulebilirlik-raporu_1070/view.aspx
68. Qiu, R., Xu, J., Xie, H., Zeng, Z., & Lv, C. (2020). Carbon tax incentive policy towards air passenger transport carbon emissions reduction. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 85, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2020.102441
69. Rogge, K. S., Schneider, M., & Hoffmann, V. H. (2011). The innovation impact of the EU Emission Trading System — Findings of company case studies in the German power sector. Ecological Economics, 70(3), 513–523. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2010.09.032
70. Scheelhaase, J., Maertens, S., & Grimme, W. (2021). Options for improving the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) for aviation. Transportation Research Procedia, 59, 193–202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trpro.2021.11.111
71. Scheelhaase, J., Maertens, S., Grimme, W., & Jung, M. (2018). EU ETS versus CORSIA – A critical assessment of two approaches to limit air transport’s CO 2 emissions by market-based measures. Journal of Air Transport Management, 67, 55–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jairtraman.2017.11.007
72. Schinas, O., & Bergmann, N. (2021). Emissions trading in the aviation and maritime sector: Findings from a revised taxonomy. Cleaner Logistics and Supply Chain, 1, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clscn.2021.100003
73. Seber, G., Malina, R., Pearlson, M. N., Olcay, H., Hileman, J. I., & Barrett, S. R. H. (2014). Environmental and economic assessment of producing hydroprocessed jet and diesel fuel from waste oils and tallow. Biomass and Bioenergy, 67, 108–118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2014.04.024
74. Sharma, A., Jakhar, S. K., & Choi, T.-M. (2021). Would CORSIA implementation bring carbon neutral growth in aviation? A case of US full service carriers. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 97, 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2021.102839
75. Solomon, B. D. (2010). Biofuels and sustainability. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1185(1), 119–134. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.05279.x
76. Stay Grounded. (2021). The Troubling Story of Aviation‘s Greenwashing - Stay Grounded. https://stay-grounded.org/the-troubling-story-of-aviations-greenwashing/
77. Thinktech. (2021). Sivil Havacılıkta Yakıt Verimliliği. https://thinktech.stm.com.tr/uploads/docs/1616230696_stm-sivil-havacilik-yakit-verimliligi.pdf?
78. Timperley, J. (2019). Airlines around the world have recently begun to monitor their CO2 emissions as part of a UN climate deal. Carbon Brief. https://www.carbonbrief.org/corsia-un-plan-to-offset-growth-in-aviation-emissions-after-2020
79. Trt News. (2021). Türk Hava Yolları ilk kez çevreci yakıt kullanacak. https://www.trthaber.com/haber/ekonomi/turk-hava-yollari-ilk-kez-cevreci-yakit-kullanacak-640778.html
80. Turkish Airlines. (2016). Faaliyet Raporu. https://investor.turkishairlines.com/documents/ThyInvestorRelations/THY_2016_FAALIYET_RAPORU-v2.pdf
81. Turkish Airlines. (2019). Faaliyet Raporu. https://investor.turkishairlines.com/documents/yillik-raporlar/thy_frat_2019tr.pdf
82. Turkish Airlines. (2022). Yepyeni bir proje: Paris’e sürdürülebilir havacılık yakıtıyla uçuyoruz! https://blog.turkishairlines.com/tr/yepyeni-bir-proje-parise-surdurulebilir-havacilik-yakitiyla-ucuyoruz/
83. UNEP. (2020). Emissions Gap Report 2020. https://www.unep.org/emissions-gap-report-2020
84. UNEP. (2021). Emissions Gap Report 2021. Birleşmiş Milletler. https://www.unep.org/resources/emissions-gap-report-2021
85. Wang, J., Gu, F., Liu, Y., Fan, Y., & Guo, J. (2019). Bidirectional interactions between trading behaviors and carbon prices in European Union emission trading scheme. Journal of Cleaner Production, 224, 435–443. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.03.264
86. Washington, T., & Watson, F. (2021). Feature: EU review of ETS an opportunity for aviation decarbonization. https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en/market-insights/latest-news/agriculture/040921-feature-eu-review-of-ets-an-opportunity-for-aviation-decarbonization#article0
87. Why, E. S. K., Ong, H. C., Lee, H. V., Gan, Y. Y., Chen, W.-H., & Chong, C. T. (2019). Renewable aviation fuel by advanced hydroprocessing of biomass: Challenges and perspective. Energy Conversion and Management, 199, 112015. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2019.112015
88. Yilmaz, N., & Atmanli, A. (2017). Sustainable alternative fuels in aviation. Energy, 140, 1378–1386. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2017.07.077