Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF): emerging markets as a decarbonization breakthrough, and collaborative challenges in global climate governance

Abstract Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is increasingly recognized as a critical pathway for decarbonizing the carbon-intensive aviation sector amid escalating climate governance pressures. Current technological development follows a pattern: short-term optimization of conventional biofuels versus long-term breakthroughs in green hydrogen synthesis. However, large-scale deployment remains constrained by systemic challenges, including feedstock supply bottlenecks, high production costs, fragmented policy incentives and persistent investment-decision risks. The inadequacy of the international collaborative governance framework further intensifies the conflict between technology promotion and ecological protection. Emerging markets (e.g. China) provide critical momentum for global SAF diffusion through policy implementation and commercial demonstrations. Nevertheless, its industrialization process still needs to overcome the threshold from pilot projects to mainstream adoption. Against this backdrop, this perspective article synthesizes technological, policy, and market dimensions of SAF development, arguing that successful industrialization will enable aviation’s net-zero transition by converting climate pledges into actionable, finance-backed deploytment pathways.