The South American carrier LATAM Airlines Group has announced a new alliance to capture 11.3 million tons of CO2 by 2030, improving its sustainability efforts and looking to become more carbon-neutral while protecting the environment.

A new partnership

LATAM Airline expects to reduce and offset 50% of domestic emissions by 2030. Its final goal is to become carbon-neutral by 2050. The airline said it is “committed to contributing to the conservation of biodiversity and strategic ecosystems, as well as preventing deforestation in LATAM’s areas of influence.”

This week, the company announced a new alliance with the Cataruben Foundation concerning the CO2BIO project. This project aims to conserve and restore the floodable savannah and forests in South America, particularly in the Colombian Orinoquía region.

The project expects to capture 11.3 million tonnes of CO2 by 2030 in a 575,000-hectare property. Additionally, it will benefit 700 families in the area and is supported by the Natural Wealth Program of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

LATAM has pledged to support at least one similar project per home market by 2027. The company currently operates domestic flights in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. These projects should involve “the conservation of biodiversity and strategic ecosystems, always prioritizing the mitigation hierarchy in our operations, first to avoid and minimize our impacts, and then to restore and offset them,” according to LATAM’s sustainability website.

Roberto Alvo, CEO of LATAM Airlines Group, said that with this new strategic alliance, the airline is reaffirming its commitment to promote a collaborative compensation model.

What’s CO2Bio?

CO2Bio is part of the LATAM sustainability strategy. This project has several goals, including carbon-neutral growth compared to 2019, reducing or offsetting the equivalent of 50% of domestic emissions by 2030, and being carbon-neutral by 2050.

LATAM believes these goals can be achieved through implementing new technologies, more efficient management, advancing the use of sustainable aviation fuels, and launching compensation programs focused on the conservation of strategic ecosystems.

Earlier this year, LATAM pledged to increase its use of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) by 2030. The goal is at least 5% of all the fuel it needs by that year to be SAF.

The airline also has a large order for 100 new Airbus A321neo aircraft with Airbus (including the A321XLR). The A320neo delivers more than 20% fuel and CO2 savings, which improves LATAM’s sustainability plans.

LATAM Airbus A320 airplane Cartagena airport (CTG) in Colombia.-1
Photo: Shutterstock.

Get the latest aviation news straight to your inbox: Sign up for our newsletters today.

Does offsetting really work?

Compensation programs by airlines worldwide can sometimes be seen as a promise to be good to be true. Offset seeks to compensate for emissions in one place by funding projects elsewhere that tackle this issue. In LATAM’s case, the airline is funding this project to maintain the Orinoquía savannah.

A New York Times report showed that up to 85% of the projects are unlikely to achieve their reduction claims. Instead, compensation programs distract our attention from analyzing other projects that could be much more meaningful. Aviation-wise, it is believed that if the airline industry wants to become carbon-neutral by 2050, most of the work will be done by developing a profitable and scalable sustainable aviation fuel industry. Compensation programs are just a small part of the equation.

LATAM seems very aware of this issue, which is why the airline is also looking to increase the availability of SAF in the region. Roberto Alvo said earlier this year,

“For this to happen, public and private actors, including LATAM, need to collaborate, play their role and lead the energy transition that we need to make the world a better place.”

What do you think about LATAM’s latest sustainability project? Let us know in the comments below.