Latest IPCC, WMO and Copernicus Climate Change Service all highlight widespread, rapid and record-breaking changes in the climate and extreme weather events, with Europe warming twice as fast as the global average making it the fastest warming continent in the world.
In 2022, all departing flights accounted for 4% of EU27+EFTA total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The overall climate impact from aviation is a combination of both its CO2 and non-CO2 emissions (e.g. NOX, PM, SOX, water vapour and subsequent formation of contrail-cirrus clouds).
The estimated Effective Radiative Forcing (ERF) from historic non-CO2 emissions between 1940 and 2018 accounted for more than half of the aviation net warming effect, but the level of uncertainty from the non-CO2 effects is 8 times higher than that of CO2.
Further research on the climate impact of non-CO2 emissions from aviation, especially on induced changes in cloudiness and methodologies to estimate aircraft GHG inventories, is required to reduce uncertainties and support robust decision-making.
Emissions with a short-term climate impact (e.g. NOX) can be expressed as equivalent to emissions with long-term climate impacts (e.g. CO2) in order to assess trade-offs of mitigation measures, but this is influenced by the metric and time horizon used.
A non-CO2 MRV framework began on 1 January 2025 aiming at monitoring, reporting and verifying the non-CO2 emissions produced by aircraft operators. This framework is designed to provide valuable data for scientific research that will enhance our understanding of non-CO2 effects and help address aviation climate impacts more effectively.
A European Parliament pilot project was launched in 2024 to explore the feasibility of optimizing fuel composition in order to reduce the environmental and climate impacts from non-CO2 emissions without negatively impacting safety (e.g. lower aromatics, sulphur).
The Aviation Non-CO2 Expert Network (ANCEN) has been established to facilitate coordination across stakeholders and to provide objective and credible technical support that can inform discussions on potential measures to reduce the climate impact from non-CO2 emissions.
Aviation adaptation and resilience to climate change will be critical to address projected future trends in hazardous weather events (e.g. severe convective storms and clear air turbulence) and changes to climatic and environmental conditions (e.g. sea level rise, changes to prevailing surface winds, upper atmosphere turbulence).
Aircraft engine emissions (mainly NOX and particulate matter) impact air quality around airports. Exposure to NO2 and ultrafine particles levels from aviation could be significant in residential areas in the vicinity of airports.
The Environmental Noise Directive 2022 data estimates 649 000 people experience high levels of annoyance due to aircraft noise, while 127 000 suffer from significant sleep disturbances.
The REACH1 Regulation restrictions on Substances of Very High Concern (e.g. chromium trioxide, PFAS) are impacting the aviation sector due to the absence of immediate alternatives.
1 Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and restriction of CHemicals (REACH)
