Salvatore Sciacchitano, president of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), said India needs to train people to support its growing air transport to fully implement standards, which is a challenge but crucial for the country. India has not only been supportive to the United Nations’ civil aviation body but is also actively working towards its mission of net zero emissions, Sciacchitano said in an interview.
ICAO is aimed at having a full net zero goal by 2050. The main component for reduction of net zero of carbon dioxide is the deployment and use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and low carbon emission fuels. It is expected that by 2050, the introduction of SAF would contribute to the reduction of emissions by approximately 55-60%. There would still be presumably marginal component.
The short term goal is to enhance the use of SAF. SAF are already available but in limited quantities because producers do not produce and invest as there is no market demand. Consequently, ICAO is engaged with the financial institutions (investment banks, private investors) to support them to enhance the production of SAF. It is expected that between now and 2050, approximately $3 trillion would be invested in production and scaling up of SAF. Another challenge is the accessibility of SAF worldwide.