Following a review of the climate plan Fly Net Zero published by the International Air Traffic Association (IATA), the New Weather Institute is filing a complaint against the organisation for greenwashing. The review Pie in the Sky shows that climate impact of global aviation will be at least as great in 2050 as it is today, despite promises to fly "net zero" in 2050 and unsupported claims that aviation is "in line with" the 1.5°C target in the Paris Agreement.

Since the beginning of 2022, IATA has been running a campaign under the name Fly Net Zero on its website and in fact sheets that are distributed in the industry and to the general public. The campaign is based on the adoption of a resolution in October 2021, in which the industry pledges to become fossil-free by 2050.

IATA claims that the industry has thus made "a commitment to fly net zero by 2050", which would mean that flying has no climate impact. But there is nothing in IATA’s commitment and plan to reduce aviation's well-known non-CO2 effects, which are at least as damaging to the climnate as emissions from fossil CO2.

The omission means that half of aviation's climate impact will remain. At the same time, IATA strives to more than double flying by the same year, making aviation’s climate impact at least as great in 2050 as it is today.

The complaint concerns violation of at least 8 Articles in the Code for Advertising and Market Communications from the International Chamber of Commerce's (ICC) . It has been filed with the Advertising Ombudsman in Sweden (Reklamombudsmannen), the relevant authority according to ICC.

On 17 May, IATA will launch a major international conference on aviation's climate impact and future fuels, the IATA Aviation Energy Forum, in Munich.

Press release