The World Sustainability Symposium (WSS) will take place in Brussels as European policymakers consider a range of measures affecting aviation’s energy transition and decarbonisation. The event is intended to bring industry leaders together with policymakers responsible for developing regulatory and policy frameworks affecting the sector.
The programme will examine how aviation decarbonisation can be accelerated while maintaining the economic and social benefits associated with air connectivity, with particular attention to the interdependencies between aviation, energy supply, infrastructure, finance, technology and public policy.
Marie Owens Thomsen, IATA’s Senior Vice President Sustainability and Chief Economist, said: “The air transport industry is committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. But airlines’ energy transition cannot happen in isolation. Success depends on increasing renewable energy production for all, building new infrastructure, advancing novel technologies, support investment, transfer risk, and design policies with the whole system in mind. Today, the challenge is constrained not by ambition but by the pace at which interdependent solutions can be developed and scaled.
Europe has set ambitious objectives for air transport’s decarbonization, but policies often do not recognize these interdependencies. Bringing WSS to Brussels is an opportunity to close that gap and build consensus among transport, energy, finance, and policy professionals regarding how best to accelerate decarbonization, preserve competitiveness, and protect the traveling public. With energy security top of mind, the discussion could not be more timely,”
The agenda will focus on three principal themes considered central to aviation’s decarbonisation. The first will address the scaling of solutions for air transport’s energy transition, including what IATA describes as the “low-hanging fruit”: HEFA Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), Low Carbon Aviation Fuels (LCAF) and co-processing.
A second area will examine the design and harmonisation of policies intended to support global, transparent, liquid and competitive markets for SAF, carbon credits and other solutions associated with the decarbonisation of air transport.
The third theme will focus on innovation and scientific understanding, including emerging technologies, non-CO2 effects and sustainability across the full aircraft lifecycle.
The symposium programme will include senior airline executives, policymakers, regulators, investors, fuel producers and sustainability specialists.
Confirmed speakers include Roberto Alvo, CEO of LATAM Airlines Group; Eddy Liégeois, Head of Unit for Aviation Policy at DG MOVE; and Cynthia Ní Mhurchú, Member of the European Parliament.
Other confirmed participants include Leif Holmberg, Board Co-chair of the Green Climate Fund and Deputy Director, Department for Multilateral Development Banks, Sustainability and Climate at Sweden’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Paolo Frankl, Head of the Renewable Energy Division at the International Energy Agency; and Margarita Cabrera Botero, Head of Climate Business at the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), World Bank Group.
The speaker line-up also includes Jonathon Counsell, Group Head of Sustainability at IAG; Patricia Grossi, Head of Carbon Markets and Biofuel Certification at Acelen Renewables; Bertrand de Lacombe, VP Sustainability Regulatory & External Engagement at Airbus; and Denise Pronk, Head of Sustainability at Schiphol Airport.
Additional speakers representing airlines, energy companies, financial institutions, governments and technology companies are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
For the first time, the World Sustainability Symposium and Wings of Change Europe (WOCE) will be held consecutively at the same venue. The arrangement will create a week of discussions involving sustainability specialists, airline executives, policymakers, regulators and other aviation industry representatives.
Participants registered for the IATA World Sustainability Symposium will receive complimentary access to Wings of Change Europe on 15 October 2026.
Across the two events, discussions will cover both the decarbonisation of air transport and wider strategic issues affecting European aviation, including sustainability, competitiveness, connectivity and economic growth. The programme is intended to bring representatives of the aviation industry and policymakers together as Europe considers policy and investment decisions affecting the sector’s transition towards lower-carbon operations.
Tags: Marie Owens Thomsen, IATA World Sustainability Symposium in Brussels
