Dear Mr. de Juniac, Director General and CEO of the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Please take a moment to read our petition. We are GEN, the Global Ecotourism Network, the world’s most experienced and comprehensive organization for those who care for the global and local impacts of travel and tourism. Not only the consumption patterns in the destinations are important, but also the way how people get there. The signatures below are from customers of your member airlines.
We appreciate IATA´s measures addressing the global challenge of climate crisis. And we are convinced that you can easily do more, by introducing this requirement into the IATA Environmental Policies: Ban single-use plastics (SUP) by 2023.
There are five trillion pieces of microplastic in the ocean, with one rubbish truck load added each minute. 300 million tons of plastic are produced globally each year and only 12 per cent is recycled.
The world’s first plastic-free flight was introduced end 2018 by Hi Fly, a IATA member company that wet leases aircraft in Portugal and Malta. We wish all 290 IATA member airlines to follow. For example, to get 14 pieces of plastic on a breakfast plate is simply shocking. Everything counts in large amounts: With more than 100,000 flights a day – before the COVID-19 pandemic – when all meals and other service packs are counted, we are talking about hundreds of millions of single-use plastics on planes per day (e.g. cups, cutlery, packaging). These plastics can be reduced and replaced with eco-friendly alternatives.
We would also advise the airlines to start an awareness campaign with all their customers to inform them about the harm single-use plastic is doing to the world and its inhabitants. In our experience, with an awareness campaign, customers tend to buy in and appreciate the airlines´ efforts to contribute to a more sustainable world.
While we understand the pandemic-induced new challenges also in this question (“medical restrictions” as in https://www.iata.org/contentassets/df216feeb8bb4d52a3e16befe9671033/iata-guidance-cabin-operations-during-post-pandemic.pdf ) we pledge for a replacement of SUP with eco-friendly alternatives and a fast return to SUP reduction and elimination policies post COVID-19, worldwide.
Carrying 82% of the world’s air traffic, the world’s leading passenger and cargo airlines have the power to make this change happen and they have the clients who care.
Help us signing this petition HERE