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James Beard, Climate and Aviation Specialist at WWF-UK commented on Virgin Atlantic’s announcement  on using waste gases to produce jet fuel

“Decarbonisation of heavy industry and aviation will be difficult, which makes converting industrial waste gases into low-carbon jet fuel a fascinating prospect. All airlines should pursue the development of genuinely sustainable, low-carbon fuels that are certified to minimise indirect land use change. UN aviation agency ICAO – meeting later this month in Montreal – needs to incentivise investment in sustainable solutions through the setting of global sustainability criteria for low-carbon aviation fuels, credited towards its climate goals.”

Notes to editors:

• WWF is working to secure climate change solutions for aviation through the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). WWF will be pushing for agreement on a global market-based measure (MBM) to cap net emissions from the sector, and get airlines to start paying for their carbon pollution, at the three-yearly ICAO Assembly in Montreal later this month.
• WWF published a report on the sustainability risks and opportunities in carbon offsets and alternative fuels for aviation, based on research by the Stockholm Environment Institute, in June this year. The report found that there is sufficient supply of high quality carbon offsets and sustainable alternative fuels to meet ICAO’s goal of “carbon neutral growth from 2020” out to 2035: http://assets.wwf.org.uk/downloads/wwf_aviation_a4_summary_report_web.pdf 
• WWF works on aviation emissions with NGO colleagues in the International Coalition for Sustainable Aviation and supports the Flightpath 1.5 campaign: http://www.flightpath1point5.org/