The International Air Transport Association (IATA) will hold the 2023 IATA World Sustainability Symposium (WSS) in Madrid, Spain on 3-4 October to facilitate discussions in seven areas:

• The strategy to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, including sustainable aviation fuels (SAF).

• The role of government and policy support.

• Implementation of sustainability measures.

• Financing the energy transition.

• Measuring, tracking and reporting emissions.

• Addressing non-CO2 emissions.

• The significance of value chains.

“In 2021 airlines committed to net zero emissions by 2050. Last year governments made the same commitment through the International Civil Aviation Organization. Now the WSS will bring together the global community of sustainability experts in the industry and governments to debate and discuss the key enablers for aviation’s successful decarbonisation, our biggest challenge ever,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s director general.

As well as IATA's Walsh, speakers will include:

• Patrick Healy, chair, Cathay Pacific

• Roberto Alvo, ceo, Latam

• Robert Miller, professor of Aerothermal Technology and director of the Whittle Laboratory at the University of Cambridge

• Suzanne Kearns, founding director, Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Aviation (WISA)

• Andre Zollinger, policy manager, Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT

• Marie Owens Thomsen, svp sustainability and chief economist, IATA.