Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government is taking with international partners to align (a) sustainability standards and (b) certification processes for sustainable aviation fuel.

Sustainable aviation fuels reduce greenhouse gas emissions by around 70% on average over the lifecycle of its production and use, when replacing fossil kerosene. It is an important technology to help decarbonise the aviation sector. This Government’s sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) Mandate could deliver up to 6.3 megatonnes of carbon savings per year by 2040.

We work proactively with international partners, particularly across Europe and at the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to promote both robust and consistent sustainability standards and certification processes for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) globally. Our own domestic schemes, such as the SAF Mandate, have been designed to facilitate the certification of fuels in an international context while maintaining robustness.

The government is working to address barriers to SAF production and use in the UK. The government introduced a SAF Mandate on 1^st January 2025 which will build demand for SAF in the UK. To support UK SAF production, the government has allocated £63 million in 2025/2026 which will directly support UK SAF plants through the Advanced Fuels Fund and has committed to legislate to introduce a revenue certainty mechanism to further help de-risk UK SAF projects.