Cabinet ministers from five countries yesterday launched the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Ambassadors group, together with the World Economic Forum.
Chaired by the United Kingdom in its role as the UNFCCC COP26 President, the five governments of Kenya, the Netherlands, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and the UK have committed to collectively develop an innovative ‘policy toolkit’ to support scaling SAF deployment.
Sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), derived from renewable sources ranging from household waste to industrial CO2 emissions, are viewed as an indispensable technology for the sector to reach its sustainability goals. SAF technologies currently deployed can deliver emissions savings of up to 80% vs conventional fossil jet fuel – with other SAF technologies in development reaching 100% lifecycle emissions reductions.
Cabinet Ministers from Kenya, the Netherlands, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom launched the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Ambassadors group, working with and advising the World Economic Forum’s broader Clean Skies for Tomorrow (CST) initiative. As a CST advisory partner, ICAO’s Secretary General Dr. Fang Liu also joined the launch to provide guidance and support.
Chaired by the United Kingdom in its role as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26) president, these five founding governments have committed to lead by example by both innovating and implementing new policy ideas to support scaling SAF.
The CST coalition serves as a global mechanism for business executives and public leaders from across the aviation value-chain to facilitate aviation’s sustainable energy transition with a special focus on SAF. The SAF Ambassadors group will partner with existing coalition members to develop and deploy policy solutions and drive both state and region-level ambition.
Robert Courts, UK Aviation Minister and an SAF ambassador noted the importance of collaborations such as these to bringing practical, implementable policy proposals to COP26. Said Courts: “Sustainable Aviation Fuels hold enormous potential – offering significant emissions savings and supporting the creation of thousands of new jobs worldwide. With COP26 around the corner it’s important that we seize these opportunities and in our role as SAF Ambassadors we’ll be leading the charge to promote the take up of these vital fuels worldwide.”
Christoph Wolff, Head of Mobility at the World Economic Forum, agreed: “The Forum’s Clean Skies for Tomorrow coalition provides a leading example for international cooperation between industry and public sectors in enabling the global aviation industry to achieve carbon-neutral flying.”
This Ministerial meeting marks the first in a series of high-level discussions and policy development that will occur over the next six months and culminate in a public launch of SAF-supportive policy measures during COP26.