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Forum 2012: 374). Today, IT is also more and more seen as ameans toimprove environmental
sustainability. Hence, it therefore isand will be of increased importance, particularly
for airlines. Hequan (2008) stressed the influence IThas on economic growth
as well as on the environment. This isalso why institutions such asthe European Union
support research onenvironmental performance through ITstrongly (see e.g. European
Commission 2013a).
Consequently, this paper will focus onthe intersection of“generation-sensitive” and
environmentally sustainable air transport through ITand will analyze how IT can be
critical in the context. The first section will give abrief review ofexisting relevant ideas
and background. The following sections will present the method of analysis, followed
by adiscussion of IT for environmentally sustainable air transport. This leads to ashort
discussion of“generation-sensitive” environmental sustainability inair transport. The
last section ofthis paper will summarize theresults and present some conclusions.
Background and related work
Sustainability of IT vs. sustainability through IT
Before discussing the impact of IT on environmental sustainability, an important differentiation
isnecessary. Sustainability and IT are linked intwo different ways: ITcan
improve its own sustainability footprint and IT can enable efficiency gains invarious
other parts ofthe economy that improve sustainability (The Climate Group 2008: pp.
29). The effect of leveraging information (and communication) technology is believed
to be significantly higher than the reduction potential ofemissions within the ITdomain
itself. The Smart 2020 report estimated that the multiplier ofinformation and communication
technology’s indirect effects compared to the direct effects amounts toaround 5
(The Climate Group 2008: 15). Hence, especially this enabling effect of IT is relevant
when talking about the potential ITcan have on environmental sustainability. It also
needs tobeconsidered in theair trafficsector.
ImportanceofITfor air transport environmental sustainability
The topic ofsustainability in air transport was strongly pushed byregulatory initiatives
introducing carbon emission trading schemes in different parts of the world (see e.g.
European Commission 2013b). This had major effects on airlines. Generally, CIOs of
transportation companies did not include “environmental impact” ontheir top agenda in
2010, but ranked itnumber 5in 2013 (Cato 2011: pp. 8). Research has touched envi-