How air passengers relate to the climate impact of flying and its implications for the CORSIA

Abstract

Aviation is a fast-growing industry with increasing contribution to global warming. The International Civil Aviation Organization is tasked to control carbon dioxide emissions from international aviation, which is exempted from the Paris Agreement. The organisation targets for carbon-neutral growth from 2020 with a basket of measures. This includes the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) which was endorsed in October 2016. The scheme is welcomed by the industry but condemned by green groups, while the public is unaware of it. This study aimed to find out how air passengers relate themselves to the climate impact of flying, in terms of awareness, behaviour and attitude, so as to derive implications for the impending scheme. The study methodology involved a survey on 200 departing passengers at Hong Kong International Airport and two interviews with the senior management in aviation. All of them were conducted from January 2019 to March 2019. Results suggested that air passengers relate weakly to the climate impact of flying with low awareness on the issue, almost non-existent behaviour to offset flight emissions, and an attitude that flying is an exception when it comes to taking actions to mitigate climate change. The majority (96.5%) of respondents showed initial support for the CORSIA. By leveraging industry insights to interpret passenger perspectives, this study concluded that the CORSIA is a necessary and feasible scheme which will be widely accepted, and it will be of significance in decarbonising aviation. The study contributed to the existing literature by linking passenger views to the scheme and providing perspectives in Asian context. Limitations of the research included uncertain implementation details, absence of good estimations and small sample size. For the future, it is recommended to conduct similar studies when implementation details of the scheme become clearer. This research also contributed to the aviation industry by recommending policies that synergise the scheme with current voluntary offsetting. By and large, this study shared the industry view that the CORSIA is a good start towards the ultimate goal of decarbonising aviation.