World airlines have agreed to set tougher standards on engine emissions and fuel efficiency.
The new standards were agreed at a meeting of the International Air Transport Association in Montreal.
IATA, which represents 230 airlines, says air carriers, airports and aerospace companies have pledged to improve fuel efficiency by 1.5% per year between now and 2020.
They also agreed to setting a goal of carbon-neutral growth within the same period, and to a 50 percent net reduction of carbon emissions in 2050 compared to 2005 levels.
IATA says no other industry has been able to achieve what the airlines have agreed to for the long term and it is now up to governments to catch up.
However, critics accuse the airlines of trying to head-off harsh treatment of the industry at a UN climate summit in Copenhagen in December.
