A recent viewpoint article by Dr Qi Song, The King’s Global Sustainability Fellow in Climate Risk in Aviation (based at CISL – the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership – and the AIA) highlights the need for a comprehensive and coordinated policy approach to address aviation’s climate risks and accelerate progress toward net-zero aviation. The article, Delineating the Skyscape: Mapping Sustainable Aviation Policy Levers for Climate Risk, provides a systems-level perspective on how different policy levers can work together to support aviation’s transition.

The work identifies five key impact domains where policy action is needed:

  1. Improving system-wide efficiency
  2. Scaling sustainable aviation fuels (SAF)
  3. Supporting breakthrough aircraft technologies
  4. Addressing demand-side travel behaviour
  5. Tackling non-CO₂ climate impacts such as contrails

The research emphasises that over-reliance on any single pathway whether fuels, technology or operational improvements, creates risks due to technological uncertainty, implementation constraints and governance challenges. Instead, a balanced mix of regulatory, economic, voluntary and capacity-building policies is needed to enable complementary solutions to develop in time.

The article also highlights the importance of sequencing policies over time, identifying near-term opportunities that can unlock longer-term transformation and create positive feedback loops across the sector.

Key policy takeaways

While sustainable aviation fuels, alternative propulsion technologies, operational efficiency improvements and demand measures all have potential, this work points out that none alone can deliver the system-wide transformation required. The article highlights several important insights for policymakers and industry stakeholders working toward climate-neutral aviation:

  • A diversified policy mix reduces transition risks
    A balanced mix of regulatory, economic, voluntary and capacity-building policies can reduce the risk of over-reliance on any single solution and increase the likelihood of achieving credible long-term climate outcomes.
  • Policy coordination across the aviation ecosystem is essential
    Achieving meaningful emissions reductions will require coordinated action across airlines, manufacturers, airports, regulators, financial institutions and governments.
  • Adaptive governance will be necessary under uncertainty
    Given uncertainties around technology readiness, non-CO₂ impacts and future demand patterns, the research highlights the importance of adaptive and learning-based policy approaches.

The full viewpoint article is available here