Preparations are ongoing at Qatar Airways and Qatar Executive for Phase IV of the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), which will cover the period from 2021-2030, according to the national airline’s latest Sustainability Report.
Qatar Airways and Qatar Executive have already completed Phase III of European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), it said.
As part of the regulatory requirements, Qatar Airways has established processes to comply with the following trading schemes: ICAO’s Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), United Kingdom Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS) in addition to EU ETS.
EU ETS covers flights between countries within the European Economic Area (EEA). Qatar Airways and Qatar Executive are required to report intra-EEA CO2 emissions and surrender European Union Allowances (EUAs) to cover their reported emissions.
Since January 2020 the Swiss Emissions Trading System has been linked with the EU ETS ensuring expanded sector coverage.
The ICAO CORSIA is the first global scheme adopted by the states to mitigate increasing CO2 emissions from international civil aviation.
CORSIA highlights the collective effort taken by global international aviation industry to stabilise CO2 emissions and achieve the carbon neutral growth from 2020.
The UK ETS, established through the United Kingdom Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme Order 2020, has replaced the country's participation in the European Union Emissions Trading System, post Brexit.
Qatar Airways and Qatar Executive will be reporting emissions under this scheme for flights between UK and EEA and intra UK, and have put in place all the necessary arrangements to meet this compliance requirement.
“It is our ambition as an airline to minimise our impact on the environment, and facilitate continued global travel and commerce while limiting carbon emissions,” said Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive HE Akbar al-Baker.
Qatar Airways officially launched an offset programme providing an option for its passengers to offset carbon emissions associated with their journey. The programme is built on a partnership with the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) Carbon Offset Programme, where passengers are assured that the credits bought to offset emissions are from projects delivering independently verified carbon reductions, in addition to environmental and social benefits.
Qatar Airways Group yesterday published Sustainability Report for FY2019-21, a special two-year edition themed “Response, Relief, Recovery, Resilience”.
Acknowledging the unprecedented circumstances the global aviation community faced in 2020, the approach of this two-year report differs from previous years, due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on its business as usual operation.
The latest report details how the airline group was able to quickly respond to the needs of its customers, and its relief efforts in providing repatriation to people stranded and transport of essential medical and other supplies, as well as the airline’s strategy to recover and build resilience to ensure long-term business sustainability.
Qatar Airways was adept in aligning short-term emergency responses with investments into long-term economic, social and environmental objectives to ensure the safety, security and well-being of its passengers and employees.
It maintained its mission of ‘Connecting people and moving cargo’ safely and hygienically, becoming an airline customers can trust and rely on.
Al-Baker said: “The Covid-19 pandemic challenged the industry, businesses large and small, local and national governments, families, and individuals in ways few of us could have imagined. While it impacted every aspect of our business in 2020 and 2021, we worked to address the pandemic while continuing to drive industry’s agenda toward net-zero.
“Our industry recognises that there is more work to be done. We will continue to share our progress and be responsible for ensuring a safe and sustainable industry for future generations.”
During the peak of the pandemic, Qatar Airways remained steadfast in its ambition to demonstrate leadership in environmental sustainability, and continued to work on cementing the path towards a sustainable recovery and contributing to the conservation of global biodiversity with its zero-tolerance policy towards illegal trafficking of wildlife and its products. Together with oneworld member airlines, Qatar Airways committed to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, becoming the first global airline alliance to unite behind a common target to achieve carbon neutrality.
It also partnered with IATA to launch its voluntary carbon offset programme for passengers, which has now extended to include its cargo and corporate clients, while continuing to improve our environmental performance and securing the accreditation to the highest level in the IATA Environmental Assessment Programme (IEnvA).
 
 
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