In first-of-a-kind market signal, leading aircraft lessor Jackson Square Aviation retires SAF Scope 3 credits in partnership with Future Energy Global

Dublin, 20 February 2025 – Future Energy Global (FEG), the innovative Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) ecosystem builder and production accelerator, has retired a batch of Scope 3 emissions credits on behalf of Jackson Square Aviation (JSA), a leading aircraft leasing company.

Aircraft lessors and financiers like JSA are critical to the aviation industry and own about half of all commercial aircraft worldwide. JSA’s action in contributing to the cost of SAF sends a strong message to its airline customers that it will work with them to meet the challenges of airline sustainability and SAF funding.

The aviation industry has committed to reaching net-zero CO₂ emissions by 2050, and SAF – made from crops, wastes, or renewable electricity – is the biggest single contributor to this net-zero goal, expected to account for about 2/3 of the necessary emissions reduction.

To achieve this goal, SAF production quantities will need to scale more than 400-fold. However, SAF is more expensive than conventional aviation fuel, and all stakeholders, not just airlines, will have to fund the “SAF premium.”

The Greenhouse Gas Protocol defines different “scopes” of responsibility for emissions. The emissions from a flight fall under an airline’s direct responsibility (“Scope 1”), but a company with staff flying for business on that flight is responsible for its staff’s share of the flight’s emissions under “Scope 3” (indirect emissions).

When a company like JSA purchases and retires SAF-derived Scope 3 credits, it contributes to reducing the SAF premium for airlines and thus enables the faster ramp-up of SAF production.

“More intense collaboration between all aviation stakeholders is essential if we’re to achieve the industry’s common goal of net-zero CO₂ emissions by 2050,” said Future Energy Global CEO Natasha Mann. “Aircraft lessors are an absolutely central part of the aviation industry, and Jackson Square is a true sustainability pioneer among lessors.  We’re proud to be working with JSA to build a stakeholder ecosystem that will bring aviation closer to net-zero.”

“At JSA, we take our sustainability responsibilities very seriously, and we believe that lessors will increasingly differentiate themselves through their contributions to sustainable aviation,” said Ryan Opeka, Chief Operating Officer of JSA. “We’re committed to investing in a more sustainable future for global air transport, we are a strong proponent of the adoption of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs) globally to reduce aviation’s environmental impact, and this transaction with Future Energy Global is a demonstration of our commitment.”