The UK government has set out a series of commitments to achieve what it calls “guilt-free flying” as it warned that aviation emissions should not return to pre-pandemic levels.
Under Boris Johnson’s administration’s Jet Zero strategy, domestic airlines in the UK and airports in England must meet a target of net zero for carbon emissions by 2040.
Airlines operating in Britain must ensure sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) makes up at least 10 per cent of their jet fuel by 2030. SAF production slashes carbon emissions by about 80 per cent compared with traditional jet fuel. It can be blended with standard aviation fuel at up to 50 per cent.
One of the challenges for the aviation sector is that producing SAF is more expensive than acquiring traditional fuel.
The Conservative-led government’s ambition is for construction on at least five commercial-scale SAF plants in the UK to have started by 2025. Projects pioneering eco-friendly fuel can apply for support from a new £165 million advanced fuels fund.
Air passengers should be given environmental information about specific flights at the time of booking from this autumn, the government has proposed, to help them make more sustainable choices.
Speaking at the Farnborough International Airshow on Tuesday, UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps set out a series of commitments to achieve what the Department for Transport described as “guilt-free flying”.
“We want 2019 to be remembered as the peak year for aviation emissions,” he said. “From now on, it should all be downhill for carbon emissions – and steadily uphill for green flights.”
Mr Shapps said the UK was “setting an example of the ambition needed to tackle climate change”.
“Rather than clipping the sector’s wings, our pathway recognises that decarbonisation offers huge economic benefits, creating the jobs and industries of the future, making sure UK businesses are at the forefront of this green revolution,” he said.
The aviation sector accounts for 2.5 per cent of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
The Jet Zero policy includes a six-point plan for the industry to stay below pre-pandemic levels of carbon emissions.
The six priority areas are:
- Improving efficiency of existing aircraft, airports and airspace
- Increasing support for SAF by starting domestic production
- Supporting development of zero-emission aircraft
- Developing carbon markets and greenhouse gas-removal technology
- Providing consumers with better information so they can make sustainable travel choices
- Working with experts to increase understanding about climate effects of aviation, other than CO2 emissions
Farnborough, a week-long airshow in Hampshire, England, brings together tens of thousands of delegates from the aerospace, aviation and defence industries and marks the first major gathering of leaders in those sectors since before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Kevin Craven, chief executive of aerospace trade body ADS, described the Jet Zero strategy as “a welcome step forward towards net zero aviation by 2050”.
“The UK aerospace community is committed and ready to deliver on the promise of sustainable aviation,” he said.
Environmental campaign group Greenpeace dismissed the government’s strategy, saying it suggests ministers are “hoping someone else will solve the problem with some shiny new technology, and that any residual carbon can be offset.”
“Vague aspirations to technological innovation will do nothing significant to cut emissions in the short to medium term, so what this strategy amounts to is letting aviation pollute as much as they want and then doing a lot of offsetting,” Emily Armistead, programme director for Greenpeace UK, said.
“As the industry, the government and everyone involved already know, this won’t work.”
Willie Walsh, director of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), said the industry’s target of achieving net zero by 2050 rests “by a large extent” on the mass production of SAFs.
“We’re committed to achieving net zero in 2050. To a large degree that will be achieved through sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs),” the former chief executive of British Airways said during a panel discussion at Farnborough.
“The science is clear: we believe we’re aligned now with the ambition of the Paris Agreement,” he added.
The former pilot said despite the major challenges weathered by the sector over the past two years it remains committed to a greener future and said the buzz around Farnborough centres on ways to achieve that.
“You can see that despite the deepest crisis that this industry has gone through the focus on the environment remains front and centre and I think we should be optimistic that we have a credible pathway to achieving net zero in 2050 and we should be ambitious to try and do even better than that.”
Meanwhile, the government has joined forces with Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the US in a new partnership which aims to tackle challenges facing aviation.
The National Aviation Authority (NAA) aims to improve collaboration with bodies from different countries on integrating and regulating new technology, as the international industry comes under growing pressure to slash emission rates.
Launching the NAA at Farnborough, Mr Shapps said the partnership was a “huge step forward in supporting this work – helping the sector safely meet the challenges of tomorrow and improve lives for the better”.
The British Airline Pilots’ Association (Balpa) responded to the Jet Zero strategy launch by issuing a “red warning” over what it perceived as missed steps on the challenging road to make the industry more sustainable.
The group, which represents over 10,000 pilots, argued the policy relies too heavily on “unproven and uncosted technologies for removing greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere”, posing “a major risk to success”.
“With the same narrow clique of advice, the same CEOs who provided the chaos seen in aviation’s spring ‘recovery’ from Covid advising the government, I am not surprised there is so much missing from the Jet Zero strategy,” Martin Chalk, Balpa's general secretary, said.
“Aspiration heavy and action light ‘strategies’ risk failing our industry, the economy and our society.
“Major risks remain to Jet Zero’s chances of success, and until organisations like Balpa are involved – providing practical and outcome-orientated solutions – our red warning will remain valid.”
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Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
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Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
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Episode list:
Ep1: A recovery like no other- the unevenness of the economic recovery
Ep2: PCR and jobs - the future of work - new trends and challenges
Ep3: The recovery and global trade disruptions - globalisation post-pandemic
Ep4: Inflation- services and goods - debt risks
Ep5: Travel and tourism
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Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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