Tessa Simpson, ATI’s Senior Sustainability Manager, marks Earth Day 2025 with a blog emphasising the importance of collaboration within the aviation industry to achieve net zero emissions, drawing parallels with natural ecosystems and highlighting initiatives and partnerships that drive innovation and sustainability.
Today is Earth Day: an annual call for collective action to protect the planet and safeguard the ecosystems in our natural environment.
The term ‘ecosystem’ originates from the natural sciences and their value is often underestimated – providing food, clean water and air, carbon sequestration, flood control, recreation and cultural services, as well as much more. Today, the term is used in a variety of different contexts, describing interconnected entities working together to achieve a shared purpose. Just as natural ecosystems generate value and ecological services through interactions between many different animals and plants, the aviation ecosystem thrives when collaboration occurs and partnerships form between different players across the sector. This is particularly important in the transition to net zero due to the challenges and complexities that industry faces.
At the ATI, we are well-placed to see the extent of this collaboration and the value this brings to the UK aerospace industry. One recent, notable example is the ecosystem that has formed to address aviation’s non-CO2 emissions. Academia, OEMs, regulators, air navigation service providers, airlines and many others are teaming up to address this challenge, advancing the fundamental science, developing sensing technologies and models, and undertaking trials to mitigate the impacts.
Another notable example is the contribution from many stakeholders and delivery partners to progress the work of the Hydrogen Capability Network. The network ensured collaboration, coherence and efficiency for the aerospace sector to facilitate hydrogen research and development, focussing on test and demonstration infrastructure, fundamental and enabling research, and hydrogen skills. Collaboration from regulators, academia, national institutes, SMEs, engine manufacturers, hydrogen producers and OEMs made this work possible, and the outputs significantly support the development of these technologies and, therefore, zero-carbon aircraft.
Innovation also thrives when ecosystems are formed, and the ‘Wing of Tomorrow’ programme is no exception. While Airbus is spearheading this project to improve the performance and production rates of aircraft wings, it is a collaborative effort with contributions from many industrial partners and research institutes. Inspiration has not just been taken from nature for the design but also for the execution of the project, forming an ecosystem of expertise to maximise its potential.
The ATI supports partnerships and collaboration involving many different types of organisations to benefit the UK aerospace industry. Achieving net zero is a considerable challenge for aviation and one that a single player cannot overcome. Through funding, events, tools, projects, insights, workshops, and leveraging internal and external expertise, the ATI supports the aerospace and wider aviation sector to accelerate collaboration, drive innovation and maximise growth. Only by sustaining and enhancing this ecosystem can we hope to protect those formed in our natural environment.