Cautious optimism 1 Expectations are high for a year of climate action in 2025 to ensure the decarbonization vision for 2030 of the International Civil Aviation Organization can be achieved. During the last quarter of 2024, the World Economic Forum surveyed the views of around 30 C-suite executives from the aviation community. Despite headwinds last year – including SAF plant closures, scrapped projects and delays in policy guidance and incentives – executives were cautiously optimistic. More than two-thirds of respondents were confident that the momentum for aviation decarbonization will continue in 2025, with a minority voicing neutral or negative expectations for the year ahead (see Figure 2). FIGURE 2 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%Looking ahead at 2025, how optimistic are you that the aviation sector will make meaningful progress towards decarbonization? Very optimistic Somewhat pessimistic Neutral Somewhat optimistic More than two-thirds of respondents to the Forum’s C-suite survey were confident that the momentum for aviation decarbonization will continue in 2025.Source: World Economic Forum. Industry leaders flagged some developments as particularly promising: –The second half of 2024 saw notable breakthroughs in technology development and investment, with significant capital raised by SAF start-ups. –SAF production doubled from 2023 to 2024 and is expected to double again in 2025.1 –After several election cycles across the globe, more administrations are introducing new SAF policies or strengthening existing policies – the new government in the United Kingdom boosted support for SAF within weeks of taking office.Respondents were also largely optimistic about the feasibility of the 2030 vision agreed at the third Conference on Aviation and Alternative Fuels (CAAF/3), convened by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in Dubai in November 2023 (see Box 1 and Figure 3). However, a minority of respondents remain pessimistic about the sector’s ability to reduce the carbon footprint of aviation fuels by 5% by the end of the decade. Optimism about progress on decarbonization Global Aviation Sustainability Outlook 2025 7