Delta Quietly Backs Away From Net-Zero Emissions Goals

Delta Air Lines — which has long touted programs to reduce its environmental impact — is quietly backing away from an ambitious emissions goal that it appears to have concluded is unachievable.The airline has dropped a goal on its website of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 and a pledge to switch to sustainable fuels for 10 percent of its needs by 2030.While it has dropped the wording from the website, it emailed a statement to The New York Sun stating that Delta “remains committed to our 10% SAF by 2030 goal, which is reflected in our Difference Report being published later this month.” A representative from the company did not explain why the online language was altered.Delta previously called delivering more sustainable travel “imperative for our planet” and said achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 was part of its long-term strategy. While it has pushed the goal for years, it now appears that was never likely to be achieved.The global aviation sector contributes about 2–3 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions. The airline said, in 2023, that it was working toward the 2050 goal by transitioning to a more fuel-efficient fleet and increasing its use of alternative fuels.Sustainable aviation fuel is made from feedstocks, including agricultural waste, algae, animal fats, corn and captured carbon dioxide and is blended with conventional fuels, business sustainability firm Trellis reports.Delta more than doubled its use of sustainable fuel in 2023, and tripled its usage again in 2024. It reported using 23.4 million gallons of sustainable fuel last year, but that is about than 0.5 percent of the estimated 4 billion gallons of fuel that it burns each year.The airline says it continues to be a central player in driving coalitions to make meaningful progress in boosting sustainable fuels. There is not enough sustainable aviation fuel produced in a year, however, to meet global demand for a full week, the airline says. Its work to scale production of the fuels has not advanced fast enough to provide nearly enough of the product to make meaningful progress.The airline says it reduced fuel-related greenhouse gas emissions by 3.2 percent in 2023, but that is well short of the 45 percent goal that it originally hoped to achieve by 2035.The airline has now quietly removed the word “goal” from emissions reduction on its sustainability webpage, Bloomberg reported, and replaced it with “aspiration.”“Many of the factors affecting the ability to reach our goals are outside of our control. Addressing these factors will require government policies and incentives, dedicated research and development, transformation of some of the world’s largest industries and significant capital allocation across the public and private sectors,” Delta acknowledged in a 2023 report.Since then, President Trump has targeted sustainability and climate programs after returning to the White House. The administration has slashed funding for renewable energy as part of its rollback of the Green New Deal, accusing the program of using American taxpayer dollars to fund the “globalist climate agenda.” The president cut $2.5 billion from the Department of Energy’s efficiency and renewable energy programs.Delta isn’t the only airline that established broad emissions reduction goals based on the assumption of widespread increases in the amount of sustainable aviation fuels available. Southwest Airlines pins its plans on a Biden administration goal of 3 billion gallons per year of domestic sustainable fuel production by 2030 and 35 billion gallons by 2050 to satisfy 100 percent of domestic demand. United Airlines continues to list net zero emissions by 2050 as a goal on its website but says it requires things to happen that are out of its control.“We (also) realize there’s a limit to what a single company can do alone. That’s why we are continuing to seek opportunities to collaborate with other industries,” United’s chief executive officer, Scott Kirby, says on the site. “We must reach across industries to develop coordinated efforts to accomplish what must be our collective goal of carbon neutrality.”This article has been updated to include comments to The New York Sun from Delta Airlines.

Delta Quietly Backs Away From Net-Zero Emissions Goals

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