Flying with Val Miftakhov

When people talk about trying to reduce their carbon footprint, the one item that almost always comes up in the conversation is air travel. And with reason. Researchers believe that aviation accounts for approximately four percent of human-induced global warming–more than most countries, including Germany. If the aviation industry was a country, it would be the sixth largest greenhouse gas emitter, after China, the United States, India, Russia, and Japan.

What to do? ​​The world's population is not going to stop flying. Quite the opposite: there were nearly 40 million flights in 2019, pre-pandemic, and the numbers are quickly reaching that record again, and will bypass it swiftly. Next year, that number is expected to be four percent higher, and by the mid-2030s–a mere ten years from now–experts predict that there will be 200,000 flights a day.

The only way to reduce aviation's impact on climate is to create an environmentally cleaner way to fly. And that's what our guest today, Val Miftakhov, is doing with his company Zero Avia. He'll explain how. 

• Read the transcript of this episode
• Get to know Dana Thomas and her book Fashionopolis
• Learn more about Val Miftakhov and Zero Avia
• Discover the fashion brand Another Tomorrow
• Explore the new Green Dream website, thegreendream.studio