Building a Sustainable Future for Aviation: Insights and Inspiration from the MENA Region
Simon Talling-Smith
Partner
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SkiesFifty
Flight has the power to connect cultures, drive economic growth, and broaden horizons. For decades aviation has shown its potential to be a force for good in the world—yet the aviation industry faces a lot of bad press—and one of the toughest decarbonization challenges of any sector. It is up to all of us to address these issues and help build a sustainable future. Like many in the industry, I spend quite a bit of my time reflecting on the legacy we will leave for the next generation and ensuring that they can continue to enjoy aviation’s many benefits. As a father, ensuring we can transform aviation into a net-zero industry is not just a professional mission for me but also a personal one.
During my career, I’ve had the privilege of leading transformation programs at global airlines and aviation technology companies. This included two years living and working in the Middle East and traveling within the GCC. Here I saw firsthand the extraordinary ability within the region to set bold visions for the future—and then to harness them to align stakeholders, generate excitement and inspire citizen engagement and action. This experience stayed with me long after I left the region and gives me profound optimism about MENA’s potential to play a pivotal role in addressing sustainable aviation.
Decarbonizing aviation is an enormous and complex challenge. The industry currently accounts for approximately 2.5% of global CO2 emissions, a figure that rises to between 4% and 6% when considering non-CO2 effects. With passenger numbers projected to double in the next 20 years, and other sectors advancing faster toward carbon neutrality, aviation’s share of global emissions is set to rise unless radical change occurs. Part of the difficulty lies in the fragmented nature of the industry itself. Airlines, airports, regulatory bodies, aircraft manufacturers, and fuel suppliers all contribute to emissions. Yet, most individual airlines and other players are not very well positioned to address the problem by themselves. By their nature, most are in competition with each other. While individual companies are making real progress, the overall efforts are not at a scale or speed to achieve the industry’s net-zero goals.
Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) has emerged as a significant part of the solution, but it accounts for less than 1% of total fuel consumption today. Significant investments are required to scale SAF production and to develop new technologies like low-emission propulsion systems. Airlines typically operate on narrow profit margins and focus on near-term objectives, managing shareholder expectations and quarterly financial performance. This limits their capacity to independently make the medium- to long-term investments needed for transformative change. To date, many initiatives and investments so far have centered on individual airlines achieving their specific SAF targets. By some estimates, investment in the order of $5 trillion will be needed over the next three decades to produce SAF at the scale required to meaningfully decarbonize aviation. Current efforts are not remotely on track to achieve this.
But many things give me hope. At SkiesFifty, my partners and I are in regular discussions with the majority of the main aviation players, including airlines, airports, regulatory bodies, aircraft manufacturers and many others. We are constantly struck by the levels of genuine commitment to change and the number of individuals who truly care about sustainability. We speak to them every day. The challenge is how to go about driving the change they want to see and how to align efforts effectively across a fragmented ecosystem. This is where the need for radical collaboration becomes essential: the industry must find a way to work together toward a shared vision while maintaining its competitive dynamics.
There is much we can learn from the MENA region’s example as we chart our path toward a sustainable future. When I was working here, I witnessed the incredible ability in many countries to drive alignment around a shared vision and deliver transformative results. Visionary national strategies such as Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, the UAE’s Net Zero 2050 imitative, Qatar’s National Vision 2030, New Kuwait Vision 2035 and many others showcase a commitment to sustainability and diversification. Across the region, bold infrastructure projects highlight the ability to execute large-scale transformations. Moreover, there is a clear ambition in many MENA countries to move beyond petroleum-based economies and extend into clean energy production. It is central to many leaders’ visions. We see this commitment across the GCC and in North Africa, with significant investments in renewable energy, including major advances in solar power and emerging green hydrogen projects. These developments are not only crucial for the region’s energy transition but also have the potential to serve as foundational elements for innovations such as SAF and other sustainable aviation technologies.
Building Catalysts for Change
Driving sustainability in aviation requires building consensus across a fragmented industry. Industry bodies such as IATA play an important role in setting global standards, advocating for regulatory changes, and driving collaboration among stakeholders. These efforts, while vital, must be complemented by regional leadership and government action. In the Middle East, governments have demonstrated their ability to encourage sustainability goals through bold national strategies and proactive policymaking. By integrating sustainability into their long-term visions, they have set a compelling example for how alignment around shared objectives can drive transformative change.
Investment funds also have a crucial role to play. By providing targeted capital for the development and scaling of sustainable technologies, such funds can help bridge the gap between innovation and large-scale adoption. These investments, when combined with expertise and collaboration, can accelerate the aviation industry’s journey toward net zero. At SkiesFifty, we aspire to drive collaboration and direct investment into the most promising sustainable aviation technologies. Our catalytic approach seeks to shine a light on aviation sustainability and attract broader pools of capital to amplify
impact. Whether it’s supporting advanced SAF technologies or funding infrastructure for carbon dioxide removal, we aim to act as a catalyst for meaningful and lasting change.
The road to sustainable aviation is long and challenging, but the potential rewards are extraordinary. By embracing bold visions, fostering radical collaboration, and leveraging catalytic investments, we can transform the industry into a force for good that leaves no carbon footprint for future generations. The MENA region has unparalleled positioning and experience to play a leading role in this charge. With its visionary leadership, ability to align stakeholders, and capacity to deploy capital at scale, the region can help us all drive a sustainable future for aviation. As we stand at the crossroads of a transformative era, I am optimistic that by working together and sharing bold visions and winning examples widely, we can create a world where flying continues to connect us—sustainably and responsibly—for generations to come.