Aerospace reducing its environmental impact

By Hélène V. Gagnon, VP, Public Affairs, Communications and Corporate Responsibility, Bombardier Aerospace

The aerospace industry recognizes the growing impact air travel has on the environment and is seeking to address this as best, and as quickly, as it can.

Hélène V. Gagnon, VP, Bombardier Aerospace

“Our commitment to the environment isn’t just visible through our words; it lives in our corporate governance and is integrated in our business strategy”
-Hélène V. Gagnon, VP, Public Affairs, Communications, Corporate Responsibility, Bombardier Aerospace

In recent years, there has been growing, international concern about the impact some industries have on the environment. The public is acutely aware that the production of man-made emissions affects the planet and recently aviation has been targeted as a main contributor to this global issue.

The general perception seems to be that while other industries may have a lot to do to become ‘greener,’ they are at least addressing the issue. The irony is that while the public believes aviation is a major contributor to the acceleration of global warming, it has in fact already established clear, environmental targets to reduce its global environmental footprint. A powerful example of this commitment is the commercial aviation sector’s decision to become carbon neutral by 2050.

However, while we have improved our efficiencies and reduced our emissions by a substantial amount, we are keenly aware that our industry contributes to the problem and that much more needs to be done.

Reality and perception
Headquartered in Montreal, Bombardier is a world-leading manufacturer of innovative transportation solutions – from commercial aircraft and business jets to rail transportation equipment, systems and services – and as such is uniquely positioned to appreciate the vastly different perceptions held by the public when considering these two modes of travel.

The world both needs and benefits from air travel. The airplane is one of the fastest and most reliable means of transportation and supports our ever-growing demand for global mobility. It facilitates economic and social progress, provides access to international markets and generates trade and tourism. In essence, the aircraft allows us to forge links between nations and cultures. Within the commercial and business aviation industry, we help to connect communities and extend the global transportation network to remote locations.

Over the last decades, there have been significant advances in aviation technology. Today’s aircraft are 50 per cent more fuel-efficient and 30 decibels quieter than their predecessors were 40 years ago. They also fly three times farther on the same amount of fuel than they did 30 years ago.

Although our industry only contributes two per cent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, it is perceived as more harmful to the environment than the road transport and electricity-generation industries that respectively account for 18 per cent and 35 per cent of worldwide carbon emissions. This erroneous perception about our impact on the environment has gathered strength over the last few years perhaps because we operate “off-the-ground,” making our products highly visible and an easy target.

The perfect storm
This growth in environmental awareness is now colliding with the turmoil of today’s global economic situation. Particularly in North America, we are seeing a very public debate about the business aircraft’s license to operate. In this climate, the product is perceived as a luxury item rather than a working tool.

It seems clear that the ultimate impact of this negative perception will place greater pressure on governments to impose further regulations on the industry. There is no doubt that regulations, surcharges, cap-and-trade schemes can be the catalyst for significant behavioural change from industries, but the money collected through these systems is not generally reinvested into fixing the fundamental problems.

Europe is moving steadily ahead with the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) for it wants the aviation industry to take responsibility for the emissions it contributes to the atmosphere. The European Union is scheduled to confirm the ETS’s regulation on auctioning later this year so, if our industry is to respond as a united body, time is of the essence.  What aviation truly needs is an international solution that better fits our global nature and for the funds gained from this system to be reinvested in our industry so we can continue to develop environmental solutions.

An additional approach is to take proactive measures to address the erroneous public perception about aviation.

A question of awareness, and trust
The aviation industry affects the environment and our operations are a matter of great concern to our customers and to the communities. We must express, and show, that we take any environmental impact of our industry seriously. Only in this way will we earn the public’s trust.

IATA talks about a 25 per cent reduction in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, an 80 per cent reduction in NOx emissions and a 50 per cent reduction in noise emissions by 2020. Within the commercial aviation sector, we have also taken action by giving ourselves a common objective to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, and we have collectively signed a declaration in which we committed to take action on climate change.

Part of the problem is the public’s lack of awareness about our intentions and targets. The other part is the public’s lack of trust about our ability to meet our commitments and in believing we are really doing everything we possibly can to solve the issues.

To counteract this issue of trust and reverse the perception that aviation is at a standstill in relation to environmental issues, we must address three key elements.

A. Structuring our organizations
An important element in our ability to meet our commitments and strengthen our public credibility is to ensure proper governance of our organizations.

The organizational discipline and will to address these challenges must start at the top level of our leadership. At Bombardier, our CEO Pierre Beaudoin made a public commitment in our first Corporate Responsibility report “to being a leader in corporate responsibility.”  The Report, published in December 2008, is available on the Corporate Responsibility section of the Bombardier website at www.bombardier.com.

Although this executive commitment is essential in goal-setting, it must be captured within a company’s values, business strategies and behaviours. As such, Bombardier Aerospace has created an Enterprise Strategy for the year 2020, through which the company is committing to “develop innovative and environmentally friendly products and services that meet customer needs globally, and to evolve into a lean organization with strong global supply chain partnerships and a reduced environmental footprint for our operations.”

At the same time, the continuous improvement roadmap of the company engages our 30,000 employees in meeting different environmental objectives. This system ensures that the environmental changes not only come from a top-down approach, but that, through their behaviours, employees have a bottom-up impact on our results.

In this way, our commitment to the environment isn’t just visible through our words; it lives in our corporate governance and is integrated in our business strategy.

B. Transparency is key
The second key element is transparency. There’s no avoiding that our industry is based on fossil fuels and we have a long way to go before we reach true sustainability. On the other hand, we are doing a wide variety of things to ensure we will not be responsible for using up the last drop of oil.

The last thing we want to do is green-wash our messages. Consumers, businesses and the general public are moving beyond basic green branding. We must respect their intelligence and tackle the real issues. In this respect, Bombardier is carefully marketing its recently launched and game-changing 100- to 149-seat CSeries aircraft by using relevant comparison points when talking about a 20 per cent reduction in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.
For areas where we are not currently able to reduce our CO2 emissions, let’s acknowledge our technological limits and use alternative mechanisms. Bombardier is the first manufacturer to enrol its entire Business Aircraft demonstration fleet in a carbon offset program. The money collected is then invested in green projects around the world. We now also offer the carbon offset program to all our Business Aircraft and fractional ownership customers.

Beyond the operational aspect of aviation, we must talk about our manufacturing processes. Bombardier is involved in an ongoing effort to reduce its energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption and waste generation by three per cent every year. We are also committed to enhancing our list of restricted and banned substances and further eliminating harmful chemicals from our processes.

At the same time, we must address our end-of-life challenges. Over the next 20 years, approximately 5,000 commercial airliners are expected to be withdrawn from service at a rate of approximately 250 per year. More than half of these aircraft are abandoned in the desert or in warehouses due to the lack of dedicated infrastructure and profitable recycling processes. We must talk about this highly visible problem and discuss our projects to recover, revalorize and redistribute reusable and disposable parts and materials at the end of an aircraft’s life.
Openly acknowledging our environmental impact throughout the life cycle of our products is another important step in building trust with the public.

C. Engaging in stakeholder dialogue
As an industry, we must also engage in proactive dialogue with all our stakeholders. We must resist taking the path of least resistance by only talking amongst ourselves. Instead, we must broaden the definition of our constituent groups and establish links with credible, non-partisan organizations outside the aviation industry.

By signing the UN Global Compact in 2007, Bombardier committed to maintain high labour standards, preserve human rights, fight corruption and take an active role in protecting the environment. It was a first step in establishing links with external organizations that are proposing guidelines for responsible behaviours.

More and more, external stakeholders such as NGOs and socially responsible investors are expecting companies to lead changes in our modern society, not just manage risk. We have to be aware of their expectations, understand their motivation and listen to their suggestions about what to do next.

An often overlooked fact is that our employees can be the best ambassadors we have to interact with our external stakeholders. They are many, and their network is broad. If they are personally engaged in incorporating sustainable principles in their business behaviours, they have the potential to not only influence NGOs, investors and customers, but also sway public opinion.

One industry, one voice
In conclusion – if our respective organizations are properly structured and have adequate levers within them to meet our environment commitments; if we agree to have transparent discussions about all environmental issues throughout the life cycle of our aircraft; and if we agree to individually engage our organizations and our employees in proactive dialogue with key stakeholders, we will be a more effective and coordinated industry.

Our voice must resonate throughout the industry associations of which we are part of. To achieve this, we need to work together as a united body of concerned participants and overcome the classic difficulties that impede our progress and reinforce the public’s perception that the aviation industry is slow to change.

We have very real, exacerbating factors that contribute to our slower pace. Safety will always be our first priority and the resulting certification requirements have a significant impact on how and when we can incorporate new, alternative technologies. The fundamental, international nature of our operations adds another level of complexity to our dialogue. And the multitude of stakeholders involved in that dialogue, from manufacturers to airport authorities to airlines and operators, often slows down our decision-making abilities.
Together, we must assume ever greater responsibility and do more in communicating to the public environmental challenges and our continued progress in finding innovative solutions. This has already begun through the initiative of the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG), a cross-industry coalition which launched the website www.enviro.aero as a resource centre for anyone looking for information about aviation and the environment.

Bombardier is proud to be working, both on the rail and aerospace side of the transportation business, towards delivering truly sustainable transportation solutions and we are willing to collaborate with our industry partners to secure the future of aviation.

Gallery box photos:
Q400 NextGen image: Bombardier’s greener turboprop. The popular Bombardier Q400 NextGen turboprop is emerging as a top performer when it comes to reducing the environmental impact of aircraft.
Employees image: It’s how we think. Ingenuity drives Bombardier to find creative and sustainable solutions to such difficult challenges as reducing our environmental footprint.
Carbon Offset image: What we can’t reduce, we can offset. Bombardier was the first manufacturer to offer business jet customers a fully managed carbon offset program.

The game-changer. The Bombardier CSeries aircraft will be the most environmentally sensitive family of commercial aircraft in its market segment.