Latest news with #netZero
Skift
a day ago
- Business
- Skift
Wizz Air Cuts Emissions Per Passenger, But Climate Impact Is Rising
Wizz Air's path to net zero is paved with low-emissions aircraft and ambitious targets. But without breakthroughs in sustainable fuel and supportive regulation, the airline and the wider industry may fall short of climate goals. Wizz Air, a Hungarian low-cost carrier, has cut emissions per passenger to some of the lowest levels in the industry. But as the airline rapidly expands, its overall climate impact is rising, with total emissions more than doubling since 2019. In its latest sustainability report for the year ending March 2025, the low-cost airline said its carbon intensity - a measure of emissions per passenger - fell to 52.2 grams of CO₂ per passenger-kilometer. That's lower than many of Wizz's rivals and the airline credits the low level to investment in part to more fuel-efficient aircraft. Low-cost carriers like Wizz, Ryanair and EasyJet tend to have lower emissions per passenger than traditional airlines because they carry more people per flight. No business class, fewer empty seats, and tight cabin configurations all mean more passengers are sharing each litre of fuel. In 2024, EasyJet reported 66.64 grams per passenger kilometre on average, while Ryanair averaged around 64 grams. Fleet Strategy vs. Emissions Reality Wizz added 26 new Airbus A321neo jets over the year, bringing its total fleet to 231 aircraft. Most of those are NEO models, which are significantly more fuel efficient. Wizz said it aims to operate an all-NEO fleet by 2029. 'Our emissions per passenger remain among the lowest in the industry,' said Yvonne Moynihan, Wizz Air's Corporate and ESG Officer. 'This underscores our commitment to minimizing environmental impact on a per-flight basis.' Because of the growth, despite carbon intensity improvements, Wizz Air's absolute emissions have nearly doubled since 2019, a reminder that efficiency alone doesn't equate to sustainability. Moynihan attributed the rise to rapid expansion under Wizz Air's 'WIZZ500' vision, which targets a doubling of the fleet by 2033. 'This growth contributes to higher overall emissions,' she said. 'But we emphasize carbon intensity per passenger-kilometer as a more relevant metric for assessing environmental impact.' Long-Term Net Zero Strategy Wizz Air reiterated its ambition to reduce their emissions to almost zero by 2050. The company said that this is structured around three pillars: Aircraft fleet renewal: This will account for 30% of the planned reduction. Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF): 53% of total fuel use by 2050. Air traffic management and operational improvements: To help reduce emission by 4%. Moynihan acknowledged that deeper emissions cuts will depend on scaling up SAF, which remains marginal across the industry. Wizz has not disclosed the current share of SAF in its operations. 'We are actively pursuing fleet renewal and operational efficiency,' Moynihan said. 'But broader reforms are needed across the industry to ensure success.' Skift's in-depth reporting on climate issues is made possible through the financial support of Intrepid Travel. This backing allows Skift to bring you high-quality journalism on one of the most important topics facing our planet today. Intrepid is not involved in any decisions made by Skift's editorial team.
Phone Arena
a day ago
- Business
- Phone Arena
T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T are under pressure – and it's not from each other this time
Mobile Net Zero report shows momentum is building. | Image credit – GSMA Still, to hit net zero by 2050, the pace needs to more than double. Emissions must fall 7.5% per year until 2030 – so far, we're not even close. Quick hits from the GSMA report: 2024 is off to a decent start: emissions are estimated to be down another 4.5%. 37% of electricity used by mobile operators came from renewables in 2023, up from just 13% in 2019. 81 operators (covering almost half the planet's mobile connections) have committed to science-based climate targets. Operational emissions dropped in most regions between 2019 and 2023, with Europe leading the way at -56%. North America followed with a 44% cut and Latin America trimmed 36%. Greater China, on the other hand, saw an 8% increase during that time – but early 2024 data shows a nearly 4% drop. If that trend holds, it could be a game changer globally, since China is the world's biggest smartphone market. – Steven Moore, Head of Climate Action at the GSMA, June 2025 A huge chunk of emissions still comes from power use. Operators like T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T used 290 terawatt-hours of electricity in 2023 alone – roughly 1% of global energy use. That includes running networks, stores, data centers and even EV fleets. But the big elephant in the room? Scope 3 emissions – things like phone manufacturing and supply chains – make up over two-thirds of the industry's total carbon footprint. And they're still a mess to track. The good news: more people want greener tech. Nearly 90% of users care about repairability and longevity and almost half say they'd consider a refurbished phone. Refurbs generate up to 90% fewer emissions and the second-hand phone market is booming – expected to hit $150 billion by 2027. Video credit – GSMA So, why should we care about this? Well, it's pretty simple: the networks powering your life – yes, I'm looking at you, T-Mobile , AT&T and Verizon – are major players in this global effort. Their commitment (or lack thereof) to sustainability directly impacts our planet's future, and let's be honest, it's increasingly becoming a competitive battleground, too. T-Mobile 's been loud and proud about its green goals. In 2023, it pledged to hit net-zero emissions across the board, and earlier this year, it came up with a clever idea: turning old phones into Wi-Fi routers to cut down on e-waste. Verizon is also in the game, targeting net zero by 2050. To get there, it just expanded its deal with Invenergy, locking in 640 megawatts of solar power across four US states. But, still, it's not all about carbon cuts. There's also growing attention on "energy justice" – making sure these green shifts also benefit underserved communities. Sustainability isn't just a tech problem – it's a people problem, too. And being aware of what each company does is a good idea. It's honestly pretty exciting to see the mobile industry – usually slammed for being wasteful – start making real moves on sustainability. Seeing emissions drop while data usage keeps climbing shows there's some serious behind-the-scenes innovation happening. It shows that innovation doesn't just mean a faster chip or a better camera; it can also mean a greener network. That said, the hard part is still ahead. The GSMA report makes it clear: cutting emissions twice as fast and cracking down on those giant Scope 3 numbers won't be easy. And it's not just about throwing up more solar panels (though, hey, that helps). It's about rethinking how phones are made, where the parts come from, and what happens when we're done with them. For us, that means looking a little closer at which brands and carriers are actually doing the work. Would I pick a phone or a plan based on how green it is? If the performance and price are solid, too – definitely. Sustainability should quickly become part of the decision-making checklist.
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Disappearing down a hole
Sir, – Fintan O'Toole (' Official reports are disappearing down the Irish 'memory hole'. ' June 17th) identifies a problem that extends far beyond Irish government reports. The phenomenon of 'unpublishing' is rife globally. I have found a number of accounts of speeches that I have referred to in previous research across a wide range of topics hard to retrace ie they have completely disappeared from internet search engines, despite my having details of date etc. This is especially the case when what was said no longer suits the current moment. Thus, I can imagine that right now support for net zero and tackling the climate emergency is going to vanish from the online record of speeches by many public figures as long as Trump is in power. READ MORE Public figures should of course be free to change their minds, but it is sad that they should be able to erase the record of their previous opinions so easily. – Yours, etc. PROF ADRIAN GUELKE Fitzwilliam Street, Belfast.
ABC News
2 days ago
- Politics
- ABC News
NT government backflips on 2030 emissions reduction target promise
The Northern Territory government has revealed it will not implement a 2030 emissions reduction target that it promised before the last NT election. The Country Liberal Party (CLP) committed to a 43 per cent reduction in the NT's greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, six weeks out from the 2024 territory election. Then in opposition, the CLP's policy was in contrast to Territory Labor, which did not promise a 2030 emissions reduction target. Both major parties went into the election promising net zero emissions by 2050. At the time, the CLP was lauded by the Environment Centre NT for having "the strongest climate policy" of the two major parties. But in NT budget estimates on Wednesday, Environment Minister Josh Burgoyne said the CLP government had not adopted its promised 2030 emissions target. "[The 2030 target] is not current government policy," he said. "There's the [overarching] target of that net zero by 2050, which has yet to change." Under Australia's commitment to the Paris Agreement on climate change, the country is committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 43 per cent on 2005 levels by 2030. While in opposition, the CLP also supported Labor's legislated 50 per cent renewable energy target, but scrapped that in March. During a CLP central council meeting at the weekend, party delegates passed a motion supporting the abandonment of net zero and a withdrawal from the Paris Agreement. In a social media post, CLP Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price said the "current impact of these polices" did not "justify their burden of everyday Aussies". "It's high time we did something about it," she said. "While it's important to steward our country and environment well, that should not come at the cost of our economy and way of life." However, when asked in budget estimates about the central council meeting motion, Mr Burgoyne said the NT government was still committed to net zero. "Our position on net zero emissions has not changed since the position we took to the election," he said. "There's been no formal information provided by my department in regards to a changing in regards to net zero." During budget estimates, the NT government's executive director of environment, Paul Purdon, said the department was finalising a "first-look" assessment of climate risks in the territory. Mr Purdon said the assessment would be focused on future liveability in the NT, looking at "themes" such as community health and wellbeing, economic sustainability and natural disaster readiness. Asked why there was a lack of money for climate mitigation measures allocated in the NT budget in May, Mr Burgoyne said the assessment first needed to be finalised. "We need to first assess those risks, deal with the issues which we face here in the NT, and ensure our government, through our departments, are dealing with them in the best way possible," he said.
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Tighter immigration rules could hit UK net zero mission, report warns
Tough rules announced in the government's immigration white paper could jeopardise the UK's net zero mission by causing labour shortages, a report has warned. Labour's white paper released last month included plans to raise the minimum qualification for skilled worker visas from A-level equivalent to degree and to maintain the higher salary threshold of £38,700 introduced by the outgoing Conservative government last year. A report by the Centre for European Reform (CER), calculates that more than half of the foreign-born workers doing 'green jobs' in the UK – 260,000 out of 465,000 – would not have been allowed in under the new rules. Ministers are relying on employers to raise wages and provide more training in order to attract domestic workers into these roles, but John Springford, an associate fellow at the CER, said that could push up the costs to consumers of going green. 'If labour shortages raise the cost of decarbonising buildings, fewer people will insulate their homes or buy heat pumps,' he said. Using Office for National Statistics data, the CER defined a green job as one in which more than a third of the worker's time is spent on green tasks. Many of these are in the construction sector, given the need to retrofit homes with low-carbon technologies, for example. The report also suggests construction jobs more generally may be difficult to fill under the new visa regime, casting doubt on the government's target to build 1.5m homes by the end of the parliament. 'Construction is labour-intensive and has a lot of employee turnover, because the work is physical and seasonal. Given that the government's aim is to expand housebuilding and decarbonise buildings concurrently, the sector is most at risk of labour shortages as a result of the government's immigration proposals,' the report says. Labour has announced that the existing 'immigration salary list', which allows people doing specific types of job to be brought in on lower pay, will be replaced with a similar 'temporary shortage list'. To avoid this becoming a long-term measure, the relevant industry will be expected to set out plans to train and recruit more UK workers. The CER said that using a shortage list as a safety valve could be problematic because the higher salary threshold elsewhere means migrants in the sectors with shortages are unlikely to be able to shift into other jobs, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation by the employer who sponsors their visa. This problem arose in social care where holders of health and care visas were subject to exploitation by bad employers, with little chance of moving to another post. 'The government should keep an eye on labour shortages in occupations that are crucial for its net zero and housebuilding missions, and relax visa rules if needed,' Springford said. 'But offering exemptions to the rules for specific occupations is risky.' Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion Other options mooted in the report include offering 'green visas' for jobs that contribute to achieving the government's target of hitting net zero by 2050, or reducing salary and skills thresholds right across the economy. Keir Starmer announced the immigration crackdown last month, claiming it marked the end of 'a squalid chapter for our politics, our economy and our country' in which the post-Brexit Conservative government had overseen soaring migration. Net migration hit a record level above 900,000 in the year to June 2023 before dropping sharply after a series of changes made by Rishi Sunak's government, including tightening the rules for visa applicants to bring in dependents. In the 2024 calendar year net migration was 431,000. Starmer said net migration would fall 'significantly' as a result of the changes he has announced. As well as potentially causing labour shortages in key sectors, economists have said lower net migration could prompt the independent Office for Budget Responsibility to downgrade its growth forecasts. The government has been approached for comment.
