Ireland and New Zealand sit on opposite sides of the world, separated by oceans, seasons and time zones. Yet when it comes to aviation and climate, they are mirror images of each other. Both are small, green, outward-looking islands with populations of about five million. Both trade on landscapes and seascapes that people travel halfway around the globe to see, and both depend on aviation in a way that larger, continental countries do not. For these island nations aviation is a lifeline, not a luxury. This creates a climate dilemma for sustainability when aviation can be a dirty word. When your economy relies on putting people on planes, how can you claim to be serious about cutting emissions?
Two islands – shared challenges
New Zealand has spent the last decade embedding carbon reduction into law and policy. Its Zero Carbon Act sets a long-term net zero target, supported by binding emissions budgets and emissions reduction plans that treat aviation as central to the transition. Public-private bodies bring government, the Civil Aviation Authority, airports, airlines and energy providers together.
Ireland, for its part, has built a strong legal foundation. The Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021 commits us to cutting our emissions by 51 per cent by 2030 and reaching climate neutrality by 2050. In aviation, as part of the EU, we are bound by ReFuelEU which ratchets up the requirement for use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at European airports.
On paper, then, both islands are pointing in the same direction. But there is an important difference when considered in how far they have turned aviation from corporate strategies into a shared national project. And here culture, and rugby in particular, can help us understand what is at stake.
READ MORE
The haka - a lesson in moving as one body
When the All Blacks perform the haka before a test match, most of the world sees a war dance. However, for players and for Maori communities, it is something deeper. A way of synchronising. A haka only works if every person is fully committed and in time with voice, gaze, posture and intent. Individuals, yes, but moving with a shared purpose. The challenge is framed within tikanga (customs) and rooted in genealogy and the land itself.
New Zealand’s approach to aviation has borrowed this mindset. Rather than treating airports, airlines, regulators and energy companies as separate actors, it has tried to get them to move together through legislative synchronisation, cross-sector alignment and shared infrastructure planning. That’s not to suggest that New Zealand has solved its aviation emissions challenge. SAF is still just a tiny fraction of fuel use and new aircraft and energy systems are not arriving as quickly as anyone would like.
Recently Air New Zealand adjusted its near-term targets because not all the building blocks are in place. However, in the New Zealand model, obstacles are treated as signals for the whole system to adjust, not excuses to abandon the goal. Aviation decarbonisation is framed as a form of stewardship – a modern expression of kaitiakitanga (guardianship of land, people and the overall environment).
Ireland’s call - pockets of excellence to an all-island gameplan
While Ireland has its own rugby ritual in Ireland’s Call, a song written so players from all four provinces could stand shoulder to shoulder in the face of a shared challenge, our aviation story feels more like a collection of solo performances than that of a single team.
On a positive note, the State has submitted climate action plans and set legally binding carbon budgets, the DAA has committed to deep cuts in its own operational emissions at Dublin and Cork, and Aer Lingus is investing in more efficient aircraft and long-term SAF offtake agreements. In parallel the aircraft leasing sector is beginning to integrate climate metrics into fleet decision-making. All good plays, but not yet a coherent game plan.
Independent analysis suggests that Ireland is currently on track for something closer to a 29 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030, well short of the 51 per cent required in law. Aviation reflects this gap with strong narratives and credible individual commitments but no single, integrated, all-island strategy that treats Dublin, Belfast, Shannon, Cork, Knock, Kerry and Donegal as parts of one connected system.
The small-nation advantage – and Ireland’s unique lever
There is a lazy assumption in global climate discussions that only big economies can lead industrial transitions. New Zealand’s experience suggests otherwise, demonstrating that being small can be an advantage. Its regional routes are already being lined up as proving grounds for electric and hybrid-electric aircraft, with Wellington Airport recently welcoming Air New Zealand’s Beta Technologies CX300. The aviation sector is exploring domestic SAF production from local feedstocks, linking climate policy to job creation, fuel security and rural development.
Ireland shares many of the same strengths and additionally, has one potential extra and very powerful lever - aviation finance. Irish-based aircraft lessors manage more than half of the world’s leased fleet, so can this be a lever to use in climate policy? If Ireland were to create a clear standard for green leasing, could it nudge global fleet decisions towards lower carbon options at a scale beyond our relative population or emissions share. And similarly could our regional airports mirror New Zealand’s living laboratory, whereby potential Government support could see Kerry, Shannon, Knock and Donegal become early adopters of hydrogen-ready ground equipment, pioneers of dense charging infrastructure for electric commuter aircraft, and blueprints for SAF blending and storage facilities sized for regional needs? Rather than waiting, could we write some of the manual ourselves?
A 2030 vision
In climate debate the language used is often ‘us versus them’, be it economy versus environment, rural versus urban, or farmers versus environmentalists. The haka offers a useful correction. The team doesn’t face off against itself. It stands together, facing outwards. The message is: whatever comes towards us, we meet it as one. Ireland needs that same mental shift. The real contest is not between the aviation industry and the climate lobby. It is between this shared risk and our ability to respond collectively, without leaving workers, communities or businesses behind. When we frame decarbonisation as an act of care for this island and the people who live on it, it becomes easier to build the kind of broad coalition that lasting change requires.
Ireland and New Zealand will never dominate by sheer size. But they can lead by design. Why not build centres of sustainable aviation excellence, connected systems of policy, infrastructure, finance and culture? Some examples could include a permanent council bringing together all aviation stakeholders, and shared data hubs instead of every airline, airport and lessor building its own systems. There could be regional innovation corridors, with routes such as Shannon–Cork designated as test lanes for electric or hydrogen aircraft.
If we choose to act with unity and ambition, we can ensure that aviation continues to be not just a means of connection, but a symbol of leadership in a climate-conscious world. The whistle has blown. The opponent is ready; our children and their children yet to be born are watching. It is time to answer the Climate Call.
