Madeline Thompson

Madeline Thompson leads Air New Zealand’s approach to the United Nations Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA). CORSIA is part of a major initiative at the International Civilization Aviation Organization (ICAO) aimed at mobilizing climate finance, expected to mitigate more than 200 million metric tons of carbon dioxide through its first phase ending Dec. 31, 2026.

Thompson is an expert on ICAO’s CORSIA working group. She led Air New Zealand’s first purchase of domestic nature-based removals to stimulate New Zealand’s nascent voluntary carbon market, contracting 8,000 metric tons for delivery by 2030. 

Beyond her work on the airline’s carbon markets strategy, Thompson built a scenario-analysis emissions model aligned with its 2050 net-zero target, the foundation for Air New Zealand’s climate transition plan. She was one of three individuals who developed and secured board sign-off for a replacement to the airline’s science-based target in 2025 after the airline dropped out of the Science Based Targets initiative.