Lai See | Is Tony Tyler saying the aviation industry is doing God's work?

The airline industry may be slightly on the back foot with the flak it gets from environmentalists on account of its emissions. But Tony Tyler, the director general and chief executive of the International Air Transport Association and former chief executive of Cathay Pacific Airways, played firmly on the front foot at yesterday's Greener Skies conference.

"Aviation impacts on every aspect of our lives, the food we eat, the medicines we rely on, the global exchange of ideas, the development of business opportunities, the ability to interact with colleagues, friends and family on a global basis. Aviation has enriched our world," Tyler enthused.

Indeed, you almost expected him to go to the next level, like Goldman Sachs chief executive Lloyd Blankfein, and announce: "We're doing God's work."

Cathay Pacific's current chief executive, John Slosar, caught the attention of his audience at the Greener Skies conference with a couple of questions. "So how many of you flew into Hong Kong for this conference?" A flurry of hands. "How many of you checked the internet this morning or had a look at your e-mails." An even bigger show of hands. "Regardless if you went online or flew into Hong Kong - you have contributed to 2 per cent of man-made CO2 emissions. If you did both, that got you up to 4 per cent." The Centre for Energy-Efficient Telecommunications reckons the internet contributes the same amount of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere as the aviation industry.

At the same time, Slosar could not resist poking fun at Tyler, his former boss at Cathay. "I am sure Tony's comments will prove enlightening as always - and trust me on this. I have heard a huge, huge volume of Tony's comments."