SAF quota

International civil aviation currently accounts for 2 to 2.5 per cent of global CO2 emissions caused by human activity. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has been aiming for carbon-neutral growth since 2020. In the long term, the ICAO has adopted a target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Switzerland’s long-term climate strategy also stipulates that, as far as possible, Swiss aviation should produce no net greenhouse emissions by 2050. Since the Federal Act on Climate Protection Goals, Innovation and Strengthening Energy Security (ClA) came into force, the target of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 has been mandatory for aviation in Switzerland. Stakeholders in the aviation sector have set similar targets.

Sustainable aviation fuels (SAF)

Sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) play a key role in achieving national and international targets. SAFs generate no or only low emissions of fossil carbon and will make it possible to reduce up to 99 per cent of fossil carbon emissions. Fuels can only be labelled as sustainable if they do not compete with production of food and animal feed.
Sustainable aviation fuels are suitable for use with today’s aircraft fleet and refuelling infrastructure.

Legislation in Switzerland

The revised CO2 Act came into force on 1 January 2025. It sets emissions targets in various sectors, including the aviation sector, and uses financial incentives to reduce emissions. It also contains measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from aviation, with SAFs playing a central role. Parliament has decided to create the same competitive conditions for airlines, aviation fuel suppliers and airports in Switzerland as in the EU. For this reason, Switzerland has adopted the EU Regulation ‘ReFuelEU Aviation’, which creates harmonised requirements for supplying and using SAFs in the EU, by incorporating it into the existing Air Transport Agreement. Under this regulation, aviation fuel suppliers must supply the market with fuels containing a minimum share of SAFs, the level of which must rise over a number of years. In addition to this blending obligation, the regulation also contains refuelling rules for aircraft operators. Airports must facilitate access to SAFs in order to promote their use. The CO2 Ordinance regulates the scope of the blending obligation.

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Collaboration of three sectors

The successful implementation of the ReFuelEU Aviation regulation requires cooperation between all parties involved in the supply chain, in particular aviation fuel suppliers, EU and Swiss airports, and airlines. Aviation fuel suppliers at EU airports and in Geneva and Zurich will gradually increase the share of SAFs blended with conventional aviation fuel. Aircraft operators departing from these airports must, as an annual average, obtain at least 90 per cent of their required aviation fuel from these same airports. This will avoid excessive emissions associated with additional weight and minimise the risk of CO2 emissions being shifted through ‘tankering’ – a practice where aircraft carry more fuel than necessary in order to avoid or reduce refuelling at the destination airport. Airports subject to the RFEUA must facilitate access to the infrastructure necessary for SAFs to be supplied, stored and used to refuel aircraft.