Sustainability in the aviation industry

The aviation industry is a significant contributor to global greenhouse emissions, accounting for around 2 to 3% of man-made worldwide CO2 emissions. Despite a huge traffic and activity increase other the past decades (if we except the COVID crisis from 2020 onwards), this percentage did not increase as major technology, and operations improvements were implemented to enhance the energy efficiency of the sector (per passenger/km). However, the absolute CO2 emissions, directly proportional to fuel burn, kept increasing to reach a level close to 1 billion Tons in 2019 (the latest relevant year before COVID), a level almost recovered in 2024.

The sector is committed to collectively reach Net Zero CO2 emissions in 2050 and each stakeholder needs to play its role in the sector’s way towards this ambitious goal. Consequently, measuring and reducing the carbon footprint of aviation stakeholders – airlines, airports, manufacturers, air navigation service providers and regulatory bodies – has become a crucial step.

Various tools and standards are used to measure emissions in aviation: most (if not all) of them refer to the GHG Protocol (a reference document and methodology developed by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and the World Resource Institute (WRI) and the ISO14064, developed by the International Standard Organisation (ISO).
In France, Bilan Carbone®  is a comprehensive carbon accounting methodology developed by ADEME (the French Agency for Ecological Transition).

Bureau Veritas has expertise and experience for undertaking carbon accounting and is recognized according to these methodologies. Depending on the perimeter chosen by the stakeholder for CO2 accounting (including its size, its operation scope, the regulatory requirement and the expectations from its value chain), BV can propose a carbon accounting mission covering: 

• Scope 1 (emissions from organization’s owned or controlled sources) 
• Scope 2 (indirect emissions from purchased electricity and heat) 
• a full accounting package including Scope 1, 2 and 3 (including significant other indirect emissions from upstream fuel production, business and staff travel, access to and from airports...).
• Following this initial measuring and accounting of CO2 emissions, a transition plan (see below) must be established.

Aviation is considered as a hard-to-abate sector when it is about reducing greenhouse gas emissions  while maintaining a steady traffic growth pattern. However, the sector’s industry players as well as its standard-making bodies (through ICAO) has both committed to the long-term aspirational goal (LTAG) of Net-zero emissions by 2050.
The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), as specialized agency of the United Nations for international aviation issues has established a basket of measures to work on the path towards the LTAG. This basket of measures consists of:

• Technology improvements and accelerated fleet renewal
• Operational improvements to enhance energy efficiency and reduce fuel burn and associated CO2 emissions
• Use of new form of energy (electricity and hydrogen) as well as Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF)
• Market-based measures (such as CORSIA or EU ETS) and offsets to compensate for the remaining emissions

Although each stakeholder has a particular role and responsibility in one of these 4 pillars of the basket of measures (for instance, manufacturers on new technology implementation), some interactions exist between these pillars (for instance, airlines having an impact on accelerated fleet renewal, operational improvements, purchase of SAF and contribution to established market-based measures).

Through its long-standing expertise in aeronautics and associated strategies, and its know-how on sustainability issues and its ecosystem, BV can support aeronautical stakeholders in setting up your decarbonation strategies: 

• Measure your impact
• Define your objectives in line with overall climate ones (and have them validated by entities such as the Science-Based Target Initiative (SBTi)), 
• Identify the overall regulations and mandates (particularly for SAF)
• Explore project opportunities (for offset programmes...)
• Embark your collaborators and supply chain partners in tailormade training. 

An Environmental Management System (EMS) is a structured framework that helps organizations manage their environmental responsibilities in a systematic, efficient and sustainable manner.

In aviation and aerospace, an EMS is used by companies such as airlines, aircraft and engine manufacturers, airports and maintenance organisations in order to:

• Identify and control environmental impacts (noise, local air quality, emissions, waste, energy use, ...) of their operations
• Ensure compliance with environmental regulations and standards
• Set up a continuous improvement process of their environmental performance

An EMS is subject to audit and certification by an independant and trusted third party, such as Bureau Veritas. 

Our experts support you to:

• set up your EMS (including further enhancements in the perimeter and scope of activity) and run an internal audit 
• Audit your company’s EMS and verify its compliance with the associated environmental standard (ISO14001 for instance) resulting in the issue of an assessment certificate.

A Transition Plan is a strategic roadmap developed after completing a carbon accounting such as Bilan Carbone ®. It outlines the concrete actions an organization will take to reduce its GHG emissions over time and align with climate goals, such as net zero emissions, carbon neutrality or compliance with national and international regulations. 

Bureau Veritas supports you in the elaboration of your transition plan including:

• Baseline and emissions analysis: a detailed understanding of where emissions come from and how significant (in terms of volume and impact) they are; this is the result of the accounting process. It helps identify priority areas and the most carbon-intensive operations, as a diagnostic to target the levers of action.
• Setting up of reduction targets (absolute and/or intensity-based): the plan shall include quantified emissions reduction goals, aligned with national (like France’s Stratégie Nationale Bac Carbone) and/or international frameworks (like the Science-Based Targets Initiative – SBTi – or the Net Zero by 2050);
• An Action Plan consisting of measures associated to different time frames (from short to long-term): it can include fleet modernization, the usage of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF), the energy-efficiency measures for in-flight and ground operations, the electrification of airport energy supply, the inter-modality to facilitate a cleaner access to airports.)
• Governance and budgeting: the roles and responsibilities of the different departments and business units of the company, the associated resources, and the sensibilisation of the value chain should be included into the operational and financial decision-making processes.
• Residual emissions and offsetting opportunities: these solutions should be used as last resort, when the other ones did not allow for a sufficient reduction of the emissions

Based on its know-how on carbon accounting and the specific expertise and experience is the aviation industry through its BV Aeronautics and Space Agency, Bureau Veritas is the ideal trusted third party to elaborate these transition plans, in cooperation with the sector's stakeholder.

Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) are alternative fuels that have the advantage of reducing the CO2 emissions from aviation over the full life cycle of the fuel. Produced from renewable sources such as waste oils, agricultural residues or even by a combination of captured CO2 and green hydrogen, these drop-in fuels have the potential of being used with existing aircraft, engines and airport infrastructure.

Before SAF can be scaled up, feasibility studies are essential. These studies are typically conducted by and for airlines, airports, fuel suppliers and public authorities and include:

• Feedstock availability through an assessment of local or regional biomass and waste sources
• Production technology, through an analysis of the different pathways (such as Hydro processed Esters and Fatty Acids (HEFA), Fischer-Tropsch (FT), or alcohol-to-Jet (ATJ) 
• Infrastructure needs for storage, blending, distribution and fuelling compatibility at airports
• Economic viability
• Regulatory landscape and 
• GHG savings assessment.

To be recognised as sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), the fuels need to meet strict environmental certification criteria, being certified according to accredited organisations’ methodologies like the ones of:

• International Sustainability and Carbin Certification (ISCC)
• Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB)
• Class NK

Bureau Veritas supports your SAF strategies through:

• feasibility studies and /or 
• certifying SAF against sustainability criteria following the methodologies of any ICAO accredited organisation

Although the direct impact of airports on the overall CO2 emissions from the sector is only a few percents, airports are critical actors as they are the visible part of any transport by air (departure and arrival).

However, airports can play an enabling role in aviation decarbonization by influencing indirect emissions such as passenger transport from and to the airport, supply chain logistics... They will also probably become SAF or green hydrogen hubs in the future.

Since 2009, Airport Carbon Accreditation is the only institutionally endorsed, global carbon management certification programme for airports. It independently assesses and recognises the efforts of airports to manage and reduce their carbon emissions through 7 levels of certification: ‘Level 1’, ‘Level 2’, ‘Level 3’, ‘Level 3+’, ‘Level 4’, ‘Level 4+’ and ‘Level 5’.

Through its 7 levels of certification, Airport Carbon Accreditation acknowledges that airports are at different stages in their journey towards comprehensive carbon management. It is a programme for airports of all sizes, extending beyond hubs and regional airports with scheduled passenger traffic, to include general aviation and freight-focused airports.

To apply for certification at one of the 7 levels of the programme, airports must have their carbon footprints independently verified in accordance with ISO14064 (Greenhouse Gas Accounting) by one of the verifiers approved by the programme administrator. Evidence of this must be provided to the administrator together with all claims regarding carbon management processes which must also be independently verified.

Once all documentation supplied by the airport is in order, the programme administrator issues an accreditation confirmation. The airport’s achievement can then benefit from the recognition through actions undertaken by its respective ACI Region, taking the form of an official certificate and a range of external communications.

Bureau Veritas can accompany airports in their journey to various ACA levels: 

• from initial approach to measurement and reduction of direct emissions to supporting the understanding and management of indirect scope 3 emissions. 
• prepare you for the submission of documentation to the independent verifier, in order to get the appropriate level of accreditation and embark on a continuous improvement pattern.