The aviation industry is betting on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and the CORSIA carbon offsetting framework to reach net zero by 2050, according to a speech from Sandrine Le Borgne, IATA's interim director general, at the World Sustainability Symposium. Le Borgne argued that a single global framework is better than regional carbon schemes, saying overlapping rules would raise ticket prices without cutting emissions. She highlighted IATA's SAF registry and matchmaker as tools to let any airline buy fuel from any producer. The speech also repeated the industry's core numbers: aviation supported 11.6 million direct jobs and 3.9% of global GDP in 2024. The tricky part remains delivery. CORSIA depends on credible offsets and book-and-claim accounting, while SAF scale-up depends on project finance, green hydrogen, and power purchase agreements. The speech names the direction, not the funding.
