New measures needed to green fast-growing aviation hinh anh 1At a workshop on the draft national action plan for CO2 emissions reduction in Vietnam's civil aviation sector (Source: undp)

Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam’s civil aviation sector was called to introduce new measures to meet the global goal of carbon neutral growth in aviation by 2020, including mobilising finance for the greening of the industry.

“With upwards of 35 million passengers a year, a small ‘green’ fee applied to every passenger ticket would generate a new source of targeted revenue to green the industry while sustaining its competitiveness,” said Bakhodir Burkhanov, deputy country director of the UNDP.

“These funds can help co-finance, for example, the conversion to electric vehicles in all airport operations across the country, the scale-up of energy efficient technology in all airports, and the introduction of renewable energy to power the growing number of airports.”

With year-on-year growth of 14 percent, Vietnam’s civil aviation sector is one of the fastest growing in the world.

The aviation sector has been a key driver of the country’s overall economic progress. But its rapid growth puts in jeopardy the achievements of the country’s target to reduce its national CO2 emissions.

It is therefore critical to build a competitive, environmentally-responsible industry committed to addressing the climate change challenges of the 21st century.-VNA
VNA