Financial technology and business services company Fexco has launched its Platform for Analysing Carbon Emissions (PACE), which aims to enable airlines, aircraft lessors, and financiers in the aviation sector to accurately measure and manage their carbon emissions to align with Net Zero targets.
Fexco says that PACE will allow the aviation sector to model future changes in its fleets to aid its drive towards improved carbon performance, which in turn will allow the sector to access finance that has been earmarked for sustainability-linked activities.
According to Fexco, its new platform provides accurate data on carbon emissions from any flight, airline, or aircraft, right down to to the individual seat per flight.
It automatically analyses carbon emissions and models the impact of changes that airlines and aircraft lessors make to reduce their carbon emissions in line with EU carbon reduction initiatives.
As a result, says Fexco, it provides the aviation industry with a platform to underpin sustainability-linked finance within the broader sector, and could add €1.67 trillion to global GDP.
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Chief operating officer Karl Aherne said: “PACE is a major milestone for Fexco both from an innovation and sustainability perspective. Fexco has more than four decades of innovation, where we have transformed every market we play in.
“This is a huge opportunity to transform an entire sector, while helping them navigate climate targets and report on their ESG commitments in a transparent and robust way. We are really excited about what PACE can do for the aviation sector.”
PACE will launch as a separate company and is a joint venture between Fexco and Avocet Risk Management. While it starts with the aviation sector, the venture has its eye on other industries and plans further development of the platform to “empower businesses to make better environmental decisions”.
In Ireland, there are more than 30 aircraft leasing companies operating with a combined value of aviation assets under management exceeding €113 billion. More than 50% of the world’s aircraft are leased and managed through Ireland, with 4,000 of the world’s leased aircraft either managed, controlled, or owned by Irish based organisations.
PACE has already enjoyed significant traction across the spectrum of businesses in the target market ranging from lessors, banks, investors, and export credit agencies and is on track to secure 50% of customers within these target sectors by the end of 2024, the company said.
One such is SMBC Aviation Capital, with an owned, managed and committed fleet of more than 730 aircraft.
Head of strategic analysis Shane Matthews commented: “PACE is a key tool to help us measure and predict our Scope 3 emissions and to assist us reach our net zero targets by 2050. As new technologies come on stream and as the industry moves towards sustainable aviation fuels, PACE will test and confirm that we are on the right track and will help us to meet our responsibility to deliver an industry that is more sustainable.”
PACE chief executive Cathal Foley added: “The aviation sector is striving to reach its emissions goals, but it is a significant global industry, generating the equivalent of €947 billion in Gross Domestic Product annually, which is larger than the GDPs of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and Luxembourg combined, so it is a monumental challenge.
“PACE is a significant first step for this sizeable sector to monitor and forecast robustly the emissions impact of any changes they make to their operations.”
PACE provides independent data on the entire global aircraft fleet to its customers, and translates this information to enable customer decision-making about multiple data points including financier, airline operator and individual aircraft type.
The company says its team works closely with customers to ensure regulatory changes are understood and that carbon risk exposures due to mandated ESG targets can be managed. The platform has been independently verified by KPMG.
