London (AFP)

The British airline sector promised Tuesday to reach carbon neutrality by 2050, thanks to plans for less polluting planes and controversial compensation mechanisms, which NGOs consider to be window dressing.

This commitment to reduce carbon emissions is supported by the Sustainable Aviation organization, which includes London Heathrow Airport, British Airways and EasyJet airlines, manufacturers Airbus and Boeing and engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce .

These groups claim to be able to meet this target, which is also that set by the United Kingdom for the whole country, despite the strong growth of 70% in air traffic expected by 2050.

The sector relies on the use of more efficient and less energy-consuming planes and engines or the use of fuels that use less oil, even though technologies often do not yet exist in the sector.

Industrialists are thinking of electric aircraft projects, such as EasyJet, which is working on the subject with the American company Wright Electric. An engine is in development to equip a 186-seat aircraft with the hope of making first flight tests in 2023.

In addition, the reduction in emissions will go through "carbon offsetting", which alone will represent a third of the planned reductions, underlines Sustainable Aviation.

This mechanism, much criticized by NGOs who consider it to be "greenwashing", consists in supporting green projects, in particular in reforestation or renewable energies, and thus offsetting CO2 emissions.

For its part, the ADS association, which represents the British aeronautics industry, stressed that "climate change is a global challenge", suggesting that initiatives at the level of a country will not be enough.

"The vast majority of the growth in the plane and the number of passengers expected in the next 50 years will in fact come from regions outside of Europe and the United Kingdom," said managing director Paul Everitt, when asked. on BBC radio 5.

Greenpeace, for its part, welcomed with great skepticism the promises of the sector qualifying the strategy as "chimera".

"Carbon offsetting is simply an excuse to continue as if nothing had happened by blaming others," said John Sauven, director general of the NGO for the United Kingdom.

According to him, the only way to reduce emissions is to control demand by taxing travelers who often use air transport. "But the sector does not want to consider it," he regrets.

© 2020 AFP