Collaboration is key to sustainable success

KPMG has released its report on sustainability in the aerospace and defence industry, highlighting the commitment of the sector to meet the 2050 decarbonisation goal, according to Grant McDonald, country managing director at KPMG.

“Depending on where you are in the industry, which country and company, it is a journey and not everyone is at the same place yet, so while the commitment is there, the money may not be there,” he explained. “Companies are still looking for the innovation and the finances to achieve it, but on the other had they know that their stakeholders are pressing them for it.”

Collaboration will be the key to reaching the 2050 goal, and both companies and countries needs to work together globally rather than on a region-by-region basis. The report aims to help that collaboration, but the research showed that some companies in the industry are still a long way off from achieving their targets and more work is needed.

“If you look at the different levels of sustainability in terms of tier one, two and three targets, as we get to the tougher end of the target – the tier three – companies really aren’t there yet and a large percentage are struggling to get to that level,” explained McDonald.

More urgency needed

He warned that the 2050 target will be upon us before we know it, and urged companies to get moving more quickly on some of the short- and medium-term targets to ensure they can reach those long-term tier three targets.

Sustainable aviation fuel, electrification of aircraft and hydrogen fuel cells all present opportunities, but more investment and collaboration are needed to achieve those things.

“We are seeing a number of competitors working together which is a change and somewhat of a surprise – in the past they would have been more competitive and now we’re seeing them much more collaborative. They realise they can’t do it alone,” McDonald added.

You can view the full report here.