What to expect
The non-CO₂ effects of aviation — particularly contrail formation and its warming impact — represent a significant and complex dimension of aviation's overall climate footprint. This session examines where mitigation efforts stand:
- Contrail warming science — the current understanding of contrail-induced cirrus and its contribution to aviation's radiative forcing, and how confidence in the science has evolved
- Operational mitigation strategies — the approaches being tested and deployed to reduce contrail formation, including altitude and routing adjustments, and the ATM implications of those strategies
- Non-CO₂ effects beyond contrails — water vapour effects, NOₓ-induced ozone changes, and how the full non-CO₂ picture is being incorporated into aviation climate accounting
- Where we are in 2026 — an honest assessment of progress, the remaining uncertainties, and what the ATM and airline communities can practically do now