Declaration of Toulouse hails European commitment to decarbonize aviation

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France-based Airbus (Toulouse), Air France-KLM (Paris), ATR (Blagnac), Dassault Aviation (Paris), Groupe ADP (Tremblay-en-France), Safran (Paris) and Thales (Paris) have welcomed the so-called “Toulouse Declaration” on sustainability signed on Feb. 4 by the European Commission and Member States under the French EU Presidency.

This is said to be the first public-private initiative to to achieve the decarbonization of the European aviation sector by 2050 in alignment with the Destination 2050 roadmap. As composites are inherent to all aircraft and offer lower weight, they have an indirect effect on the need for less power and less fuel per flight, thus acting as a key asset for these decarbonization goals.

The public-private nature of the declaration is described as an important breakthrough. Together, industry stakeholders, the European Commission and Member States will:

Continue investing in the maturation, development and implementation of decarbonization technologies — notably operations, next-generation aircraft and engines, sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) and synthetic fuels.
Looks to institutions to support the development and deployment of innovations, especially through public-private research partnership instruments (e.g., Clean Aviation, SESAR and CORAC), as well as appropriate support policies to accelerate fleet renewal and SAF incorporation under viable economic conditions for all stakeholders.
Implement the launch of industrial alliances by the European Commission — particularly the Renewable and Low-Carbon Fuels Value Chain Industrial Alliance, the Alliance for Zero Emission Aviation and the European Raw Materials Alliance.
Call for all partners worldwide to work together towards the adoption at the 41st ICAO Assembly of an ambitious long-term aspirational goal (LTAG) for international aviation.
Call for the commitments taken by the European Union (EU) to be adopted globally to accelerate the decarbonization of the industry and urge the EU to implement mechanisms to ensure a level playing field and to avoid any carbon leakage linked to distortion of competition among stakeholders within the global aviation ecosystem.