Alexandre de Juniac (second from right) is chief executive of the International Air Transport Association Photo by YONHAP/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

The aviation industry is planning a pushback against the “flight-shaming” movement and Greta Thunberg, according to the head of the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

IATA chief executive Alexandre de Juniac said Thunberg has pushed the environmental impact of flying up the agenda, but he argued that she unfairly singles out aviation, which emits more than 2 per cent of global CO2 emissions.

“We are not the only polluter on this planet, and we have taken the subject frontly, directly and massively,” he told New Scientist. He said her message will lead to a world where people will be unable to connect. “Everybody would stay in his own small village, behind his walls,” he said. “It’s a move backwards, almost a century ago.”


De Juniac said he would like to meet Thunberg, saying she is too pessimistic about the industry’s ability to find solutions. “I would like to tell her that what we are targeting is to fly more and pollute less,” he said. A representative for Thunberg said she wouldn’t be able to respond to de Juniac’s remarks.

IATA, the trade body that represents the world’s airlines, will join forces with others in the aviation industry to launch a campaign in 2020 in a bid to reassure people who fly but are wavering because of climate concerns.

There are already signs that the Flygskam (flight-shaming) movement that began in Sweden may have started to reduce flights in Sweden and the Netherlands, with aviation emissions in both countries falling between January and June.

The industry is targeting what de Juniac said are the 40 per cent of passengers who are concerned about their flights’ climate impact, rather than focusing on those who have already stopped flying or will fly regardless. Those people should be reassured by airlines’ efforts to halve net emissions by 2050, he added. “They shouldn’t worry to fly more, they shouldn’t.”

IATA doesn’t disclose how much it will spend on the campaign, but de Juniac called it a “significant programme”.

Airlines are banking on sustainable aviation fuels, such as jet fuel made from waste, as a way to cut emissions. But de Juniac said such fuels are still too costly and governments need to incentivise them.

Sizeable planes powered by electricity are still at least 15 to 20 years off, he said. “To use electricity needs a dramatic breakthrough in batteries,” he said.

De Juniac, a former chief executive of Air France, said he has doubts about climate change and the impact of anthropogenic CO2. “Not because I deny the climate change, but because I think there are more urgent priorities in terms of the environment,” he said, listing air, soil and water pollution.

However, he also said: “I’ve never been totally scientifically convinced that it was the CO2 that was the key element for the climate change. There are other gases, other causes.” De Juniac didn’t elaborate on this hypothesis.

Andrew Murphy at Brussels-based NGO Transport & Environment says the aviation industry needs to do better. “Monsieur de Juniac doesn’t like hearing the hard truths from Mademoiselle Thunberg, but aviation emissions are soaring and electric aircraft are decades away,” he says.

Adam Vaughan spoke to Alexandre de Juniac at a meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. His travel and accommodation was paid for by IATA.