Addressing Airline Emissions Through Cost-Effective Self-Regulation

The airline industry is reliant on liquid hydrocarbons and is therefore a greenhouse gas contributor. JetBlue recognizes the social impact, international political inevitability of a price on CO₂e emissions, and the risks posed by a patchwork of greenhouse gas regulations around the world. Along with the aviation sector, JetBlue supported the successful execution by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, a United Nations agency) of a single, proactive emissions reduction scheme that would cover international flying for 192 nation states.* JetBlue and its U.S.-based trade association, Airlines for America (A4A), then worked with the FAA to support the successful implementation of reporting to this one scheme. A single common regulation over aviation CO₂e emissions globally allows JetBlue to proactively predict and possibly reduce emissions to reduce cost exposure.

This new regulation is called CORSIA: the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation. CORSIA made aviation the first industry to come together and collectively agree to a voluntary price on CO₂e emissions through a market-based measure, rather than a tax.

This market-based measure allows an airline to use “carbon offsets” to create its own purchasing and pricing strategy to address this regulation, paying the cost into the market rather than to a government body. In exchange, all countries have agreed to exclude international flying from any current or theoretical CO₂e emissions tax. Financial analysis of this voluntary measure versus CO₂e taxes proposed by various governments shows CORSIA to be the most cost-effective way for airlines to address emissions from flying.

The airline industry is one of the few industries with a global emissions reduction goal. JetBlue and the international aviation industry will affordably achieve carbon-neutral international growth from 2020 on, as promised to governments, NGOs, and customers around the world.

Learn more about JetBlue's commitment to create industry-leading environmental social governance (ESG) strategies, programs, and disclosure reports in our 2018 Sustainability Accounting Standards Board Report

^{*. “Member States,” ICAO, 2019. www.icao.int/MemberStates/Member%20States.Multilingual.pdf}