Aviation Greenwashing Fact Sheet - Net Zero & Carbon Neutrality

Positives

• The resource juxtaposes claims made by the aviation industry with information presented by the author to explain why those claims will be insufficient.
• The graphs and formatting make it engaging to read.

Additional Prerequisites

• Before reading the fact sheet, students should have a general understanding of the causes of climate change and the solutions used in net-zero accounting.
• Considering the amount of information presented, it may be helpful for students to summarize the important points, annotate the document, or engage in discussion as they go through the reading.

Differentiation

• Have students consider why companies continue to commit to net-zero emissions even though it fails to achieve limiting warming to 1.5C.
• Students can work in pairs to discuss the difference between lowering emissions and offsetting emissions, expanding their analysis to an evaluation of the commitments made during the COP climate meetings.
  
• As a follow-up activity, have students research what a fair and equitable carbon budget would be for the aviation industry.
• The sources can be found at the bottom of the document for students interested in further reading on the subject or to assign as reading assignments or group projects.
• For more information on greenwashing and the aviation industry, read this fact sheet on hydrogen flights and this fact sheet on electric flights.