A Strategic Shift in the Global Aviation Decarbonisation Journey
The Asia-Pacific region is fast emerging as a pivotal force in the global effort to decarbonise aviation. With the recent launch of Green Fuel Forward by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with GenZero, a new chapter begins in the journey toward climate-aligned aviation. This initiative reflects more than just environmental ambition—it signals the maturity of regional leadership and corporate alignment in the face of aviation’s climate impact.
Green Fuel Forward was unveiled at the GenZero Climate Summit 2025 and serves a strategic purpose: to build regional infrastructure for sustainable aviation fuel demand, enhance capacity, and contribute toward international targets such as the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s 5 percent carbon intensity reduction goal by 2030.
Why Sustainable Aviation Fuel Now
Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is widely recognised as a cornerstone of future-ready aviation. Unlike conventional jet fuel, SAF offers a significant reduction in lifecycle carbon emissions, often up to 80 percent depending on feedstock and technology. However, global uptake has been uneven, hindered by high costs, fragmented regulations, and limited availability.
Asia-Pacific stands at a unique intersection—home to rapidly growing passenger and cargo traffic, increasing regulatory support, and a diverse feedstock base. This creates a timely opportunity to align regional aviation growth with climate responsibility.
The Collective Commitment Behind Green Fuel Forward
At the heart of Green Fuel Forward lies a coalition of aviation stakeholders and sustainability-driven corporates, including Singapore Airlines, Air New Zealand, Qantas Group, Boeing, DHL, DBS Bank, Neste, Mizuho, UOB, and Temasek. These participants are not merely signing up for discussion—they are stepping into experimentation, knowledge sharing, and progressive action.
Workshops and capacity-building efforts will tackle challenges such as environmental integrity, credible reporting practices, and the operationalisation of SAF book-and-claim systems. Importantly, participants will be able to test SAF and SAF certificate purchases in alignment with competition law frameworks, enabling hands-on learning and real-market insight.
Quietly Reshaping Market Signals
What makes this initiative noteworthy is the design of its intent. Rather than relying on top-down policy mandates, Green Fuel Forward creates a platform where voluntary demand signals converge to shape future supply chains. This is particularly relevant in Asia-Pacific, where policy landscapes vary widely from one jurisdiction to another.
By generating consolidated demand and framing shared standards, the initiative aims to unlock economies of scale and investor confidence. In turn, this can de-risk SAF infrastructure development and accelerate technological readiness across the value chain.
Supporting a Broader Ecosystem of Change
Green Fuel Forward complements other initiatives like the First Movers Coalition and Airports of Tomorrow, extending the systemic logic of multi-sectoral collaboration. For aviation to decarbonise at scale, upstream coordination with fuel producers and downstream buy-in from corporates and financiers is essential.
Here, corporate travel and logistics play a strategic role. Financial institutions and supply chain actors are gradually moving beyond carbon accounting and into climate-positive procurement. The presence of banks and logistics players in the SAF dialogue marks a shift in how sustainability is internalised across business models.
Regional Readiness Meets Global Responsibility
The APAC region is home to some of the most dynamic aviation hubs, serving both global and intra-regional travel demand. With governments increasingly backing biofuels and alternative energy carriers through policy roadmaps and incentives, the landscape is becoming ripe for investment and innovation.
However, real momentum comes when corporate actors and technical stakeholders move in step. Green Fuel Forward provides that missing coordination layer, enabling actions to evolve from pilot projects to programmatic pathways.
As Frederick Teo of GenZero remarked, the initiative brings both technical clarity and corporate commitment—two ingredients that are often difficult to align but essential for meaningful transformation.
Building Confidence in SAF Integrity
An often overlooked challenge in SAF uptake is trust in carbon claims. Book-and-claim systems, while flexible, must be underpinned by rigorous transparency and assurance mechanisms. Green Fuel Forward aims to facilitate such frameworks by offering its participants insights into robust reporting practices.
This dimension is crucial for building long-term credibility and regulatory alignment. When stakeholders are confident that SAF emissions reductions are real and verifiable, their willingness to participate and scale investments increases dramatically.
What Comes Next for Asia-Pacific Aviation
While Green Fuel Forward is still in its early stages, its architecture suggests a roadmap for long-term impact. By focusing on collaborative learning, demand aggregation, and systems-level engagement, the initiative lays the groundwork for a resilient SAF ecosystem in Asia-Pacific.
Its call for participation extends across the region to any airline, logistics company, or corporate entity seeking to contribute to low-carbon aviation. This inclusive model ensures that the opportunity is not limited to major players but also accessible to regional actors ready to lead.
Conclusion: More Than a Fuel Transition
The story of Green Fuel Forward is not just about fuel. It is about reshaping the intent and agency of aviation sector players across borders and disciplines. It offers a glimpse into how climate-aligned growth can be engineered—by design, not default.
For Asia-Pacific, this is more than an environmental strategy. It is a strategic recalibration of what aviation leadership looks like in the twenty-first century. The region has the potential to leapfrog legacy models, not just by deploying sustainable fuel, but by setting new norms for collaboration, integrity, and climate action in aviation.
As sustainable aviation becomes an imperative, initiatives like Green Fuel Forward are not only welcome—they are essential to ensuring that the skies remain open, but also sustainable, for generations to come.