With an open letter published on 29 June 2019, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has reached out to stakeholders in aviation to join forces in the development of sustainable solutions for the industry. Under the banner ‘Fly Responsibly’, KLM invites airlines, partners, customers and employees alike, to share in KLM’s existing sustainability practices and tools, and provide KLM with their respective insights in return.
The aviation industry accounts for 2 to 3 percent of the man-made CO2 emissions in the world. Due to growing population, trade and wealth, this percentage may increase in the future. For the last 14 years already, the Air France-KLM Group has secured a top-3 position in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. In its pursuit to maintain this position, KLM has taken measures in the field of fleet renewal, development of its own carbon-offsetting scheme and more recently expressed its commitment to the development of the first sustainable aviation fuel plant and an innovative flight concept called the Flying-V. In 2018, all these measures resulted in a relative reduction of 17% in CO2-emissions per passenger compared to 2011.
Sustainable development in aviation is not a ‘one-airline-topic’ and actual progress will only be made when we work together as an industry. That’s why with the launch of the ‘Fly Responsibly’ initiative, we invite others to use our CO2Zero-programme for carbon compensation free of charge and free of brand, and partner in our corporate BIO-fuel programme.
KLM President & CEO Pieter Elbers
