Pragmatic actions for the aviation industry and governments to advance in 2026 BOX 1 –Identify and align regional policy clusters: for example EU-UK, or Middle East and Asia- Pacific including China – driven by ambitious countries willing to spearhead regional alliances and collaboration. –Harmonize fuel sustainability credentials across geographies: first, create a single, clear definition of SAF; then introduce sustainability ratings and labels, taking inspiration from other sectors, such as housing and consumer goods/appliances. –Integrate national policies and SAF mandates within ICAO’s CORSIA, to leverage and strengthen existing international collaboration, while driving towards a single framework for aviation decarbonization across regions and technologies. –Plan long-term policy synergy and certainty post-2035, to reflect the complexity of moving away from established approaches and the need to maintain stable policy in the short term – this could mean future-proofing existing policy with SAF plants that achieve final investment decision against changes over the lifespan of the investment, and introducing over time more consistent and uniform regulation across regions, to give industry time to adapt and prepare. Source: Executives engaged in the World Economic Forum’s aviation decarbonization initiatives. As SAF mandates and emissions trading schemes continue to be rolled out, their geographic coverage is, in some cases, limited to flights operating within the boundaries of the country or region introducing such regulation.87 As a result, 2025 saw increasing focus on the contribution of long-haul international flights to climate change (currently not subject to the EU Emissions Trading System, for instance) and on the options available to address global carbon emissions as well as the potential economic impacts of carbon leakage.88 Türkiye’s introduction of a SAF mandate, complementing EU efforts, has been received positively by European carriers that were concerned about the potential risk of carbon leakage in regions close to the bloc. Nevertheless, to spread the impact of regulation more evenly across carriers, including those operating from further afield, European aviation industry players have suggested introducing additional measures to preserve a level playing field with non-EU airlines and avoid the risk passengers may fly through hubs or to destination where air tickets are cheaper because SAF is not used. The industry is calling for the introduction of a SAF Border Adjustment Mechanism (SAF-BAM) which would charge international flights departing from the EU but connecting via a non-EU hub, that are not subject to SAF requirements, the same SAF-related costs faced by EU airlines on their entire journey.89 Alongside these discussions, in 2026, the EU is expected to undertake a review of its ETS for aviation, with potential plans to expand its scope of application. Currently, the ETS only applies to internal EU flights. Discussions on the inclusion of non-EU flights have been postponed until the end of 2026, through the “stop-the-clock” provision. Given the ETS Directive is up for review by July 2026, the EU is expected to re-assess the feasibility of broadening the ETS to include international EU- departing flights into the carbon pricing system. In addition, EU legislators will assess the potential inclusion of other non-CO2 greenhouse gas emission sources into the ETS’s pricing mechanism.3.3 Carbon pricing Global Aviation Sustainability Outlook 2026 27