IATA appoints new director of 'environment initiatives'

6 November 2007

New Director Raises Profile of IATA’s Environment Programme

(GENEVA) The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced the appointment of Paul Steele to direct its environment initiatives effective
1 December 2007. Steele joins IATA from WWF International where he served for six years as the organisation’s Chief Operating Officer.
Giovanni Bisignani, Director General and CEO of IATA welcomed the appointment, “Air transport takes its environmental responsibility seriously. Alongside safety and security it is a pillar on which we have built a great global industry. Despite our good track record, air transport’s carbon footprint is growing. That is not acceptable. Our vision is for air transport to achieve carbon neutral growth in the medium-term, on the way to a carbon emission free future. I am pleased that this vision has impressed Paul Steele who comes to us with a strong track record and solid environmental credentials gained at WWF and elsewhere. He will lead our team in turning the vision into reality.”
Paul Steele said, “Business must be actively engaged in building a sustainable future for our planet. Air transport faces many environmental opportunities. The combination of more effective operations, efficient infrastructure, best practices and investment in new technology can pave the way to a greener future. We can only tackle this global issue by using the effective leadership of an organisation like IATA. I look forward to my new and challenging role.”
IATA’s vision is based on a four-pillar strategy:
1. Investment in new technology
2. Environmentally efficient infrastructure
3. Improved operations based on industry best practice
4. Economic measures that provide effective incentives to improve environmental performance
“The US$132 billion fuel bill that airlines pay is the biggest green incentive of any industry to reduce its carbon footprint,” said Bisignani. “Last year IATA’s efforts to reduce this yielded up to 15 million tonnes in CO2 savings. I am counting on Paul to challenge us to produce even better results and to broaden our environmental perspective to all areas of the industry—from better ground facilities to more effective air traffic management. Green business is good business.”