Bringing government, industry and academia around the table will enable the aviation sector to meet its sustainability goals, said David Silver, vice president for civil aviation at the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA).

Speaking at the Farnborough International Airshow in July, he said: “We have one globe, therefore we have one ecosystem, so we all have to be working together to achieve the goal of net zero.

“That can be accomplished by governments working together primarily through ICAO, where we want to see the development and publication of international SARPs [Standards And Recommended Practices], which then our governments can put into regulation, and everybody can be working in concert to hit our goals.”

Horizon 2050

In April 2022, AIA released a comprehensive plan for the future of sustainable aviation, Horizon 2050.

The report, written in partnership with Accenture, analysed the state of sustainable aviation technologies in the United States and identified the priorities and investments needed for industry to achieve its goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Silver, who joined AIA with over 20 years of experience in aviation, most recently serving as the director of engineering and regulatory affairs for Boeing in Washington DC, added: “Private public partnerships are actually the key to helping us reach net zero by 2050. We want to see governments, industry and academia all working together to help us meet this important climate goal.”
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