The air transport industry is committed to sustainability. Aviation in a sustainable world is about ensuring a better quality of life, now and for the generations to come.

ATAG has developed a special sustainability section to this website entitled Sustainability and Aviation where you will find examples of sustainability reports, projects, initiatives and best practice in the areas of environmental and ecological sustainability and social sustainability.

"Sustainable mobility can be defined as the ability to meet society's need to move freely, gain access, communicate, trade and establish relationships without sacrificing other essential human or ecological values, today and in the future" (Definition by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development - WBCSD).

The global debate has shifted. It no longer focuses solely on the environmental issues affecting aviation like cutting noise and emissions and reducing congestion - but also on the need to maximise air transport's social and economic benefits. These benefits are global, since air transport helps all regions worldwide to develop and participate in global trade and tourism, while providing vital access to all areas including the most remote ones.

The challenge is defining the right balance between economic, social and environmental mobility factors for our society.

Sustainable development

The term "sustainable development" was defined by the 1987 World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) Brundtland report as:

"Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."

The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, determined that there were three basic, equally weighted interrelated pillars of sustainability:

• Economic: Economic growth is vital for technological advancement and the investment required to improve social services.
• Environment: Industrial growth and consumption should advance in a way that does not diminish the world's natural resources.
• Social: People should be included in discussions and decisions that will impact on their communities.

Ten years after the UNCED conference, a second World Summit on Sustainable Development was held in Johannesburg in summer 2002 in which ATAG also participated.