Summary
- A SAS shareholder meeting was disrupted by Fridays For Future, led by Greta Thunberg.
- The group claimed that SAS was greenwashing and lying concerning the sustainability of its business.
- A day after the protest, SAS announced an investment in a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) facility in Sweden.
Climate activists, led by Greta Thunberg, disrupted a SAS Scandinavian Airlines shareholder meeting in Sweden, calling out the airline for ‘greenwashing,’ namely attempting to present their business as sustainable. As well as, the group said that flying have to be reduced to satisfy the goals set out by the Paris Agreement.
Disrupting an annual meeting
SAS held its annual general meeting (AGM) in Stockholm, Sweden, on March 18. Fridays For Future, a world climate activist group, got here to protest on the meeting and outdoors the carrier’s headquarters within the Swedish capital.
In an announcement on X, formerly generally known as Twitter, Fridays For Future said that they demanded the airline to stop lying and greenwashing about its business, noting that the aviation industry has an enormous responsibility within the climate crisis. Moreover, the industry was a transparent example of how the wealthiest individuals are damaging the longer term of the lower classes, the statement added.
The group continued that science was outstanding and that flying have to be reduced with a view to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015, noting that SAS and other airlines lack concrete plans to scale back their emissions. As such, the group said that carriers consult with technical solutions which can be many many years away from having the dimensions that’s required today.
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SAS AGM resolutions
Not one of the resolutions that the airline’s shareholders voted on were related to any sustainability measures. In keeping with SAS, the corporate’s shareholders resolved six measures, including not issuing a dividend for the previous financial 12 months between November 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Easy Flying
Other measures included approving the presented financial report, discharging the Board members and the chief executive officer (CEO) from liability for the outcomes, and approving the remuneration of senior executives and unchanged guidelines regarding their pay.
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Investing in SAF infrastructure
Incidentally, the airline announced that it will be investing in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) infrastructure at its aviation fuel facility on the Port of Gävle, positioned around 180 kilometers north of Stockholm. Nonetheless, the port is about 140 kilometers north of Stockholm Arlanda Airport (ARN), SAS’ important hub in Sweden.
Photo: Hervé Goussé | Airbus
The investments, made in partnership with Inter Terminals Sweden, will lead to tanks which can be used for conventional fossil heating oil storage being converted to a mixing and storage facility for SAF. The brand new facility should open throughout the upcoming summer.
Ann-Sofie Hörlin, the Head of Sustainability at SAS, remarked that while the airline’s demand for SAF is already significant, there’s a necessity to speculate in all the value chain to enable SAS to transition to more sustainable flights. Nonetheless, Hörlin noted that the carrier’s demand for SAF will only grow in the longer term.
![Flypix Scandinavian airlines (SAS) A320NEO coming in to land in with snowy trees in foreground (1)](https://static1.simpleflyingimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/flypix-scandinavian-airlines-sas-a320neo-coming-in-to-land-in-with-snowy-trees-in-foreground-1.jpg)
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