Zhao Dong (R, front), president of China's Xiamen Airlines, speaks during a High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on sustainable development at the UN headquarters in New York, July 12, 2019. Xiamen Airlines strongly supports the intention of Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation, or CORSIA, but holds reservation on the aggressive goal to achieve carbon neutrality from 2020, Zhao said on Friday. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)
UNITED NATIONS, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Xiamen Airlines strongly supports the intention of CORSIA but holds reservation on the aggressive goal to achieve carbon neutrality from 2020, Zhao Dong, president of China's Xiamen Airlines, said on Friday.
Speaking at a high-level political forum on sustainable development at the UN headquarters, Zhao said that the goal of Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation, or CORSIA, does not factor in differences between new and veteran airlines.
According to the official website of the International Air Transport Association, CORSIA addresses the increase in total carbon dioxide emissions from international aviation above the 2020 levels.
Zhao said developed airlines can achieve emission reduction goals by simply replace aged fleet with brand new aircraft, but younger airlines have greater pressure to reduce emissions.
Zhao, as a representative of developing country airlines, said the CORSIA goal seems unfair and not in line with the principle of "Paris Agreement" and "Common but Differentiated Responsibility and Respective Capabilities" that different nations have different capacities and duties to climate action.
He told Xinhua that today's climate change is caused by historical cumulative emissions, CORSIA should not only manage increment and exempt stock.
"I believe that airlines that are committed to adopting later aircraft models and technology and improving efficiency should be encouraged more to balance fair development and goals of energy conservation and emission reduction," Zhao added.
Xiamen Airlines was the first airline in the world to cooperate with the UN on promoting sustainable development. In February 2017, it signed a cooperation agreement with the UN to support Sustainable Development Goals implementation.
The company, founded in the Chinese coastal city of Xiamen, has a fleet of 188 aircraft and 10 intercontinental flights.
