Propelling Net Zero

DEV Savia is a consulting company providing decarbonization and sustainability strategies, solutions, and advisory services to the aviation industry, investors, and government authorities.

What We do

We provide customized decarbonization and sustainability solutions for the aviation industry. By collaborating with your team, we enhance your sustainability effort by delivering value through cost savings, cost avoidance, recognition, employee engagement, or any other criteria that matter to you. Our ultimate satisfaction comes from helping you achieve your goals.

 

Our Mission

Our mission is to make flying sustainable so that in the future everyone will be able to experience the joy of travel while minimizing their contribution to climate change.

Our services

Our full range of aviation decarbonization services includes the following:

Decarbonization Strategy & Implementation

We can help you plot a course to reduce your carbon footprint via the following:

  • Workshops and education to promote awareness and understanding of the key decarbonization issues and challenges, including regulations, SAF, and offsets.
  • Market intelligence (policy, regulatory, technical) that will keep you one step ahead of your competitors.
  • A customized decarbonization strategy based on science-based targets that include elements such as analysis, benchmarking, and objective setting. This will enable us to develop an optimized portfolio of SAF, offsets, market-based measures, investments, and other measures that will enable you to reach your emission reduction goals in the most impactful and cost-efficient manner.
  • Reporting and disclosure to meet regulatory requirements such as CORSIA, EU ETS, UK ETS and TCFD, amongst others. 
  • Valorization to ensure that you get the maximum credit for your decarbonization efforts.

SAF Strategy & Implementation

Due to our extensive SAF expertise and industry connections, we offer valuable assistance in the following areas:

  • Feasibility studies to evaluate the potential of decarbonization initiatives. For example, choosing the optimal SAF pathways and feedstock, sourcing, investment, and procurement.
  • Guidance on establishing a SAF ecosystem.
  • Negotiating offtake and forward purchase agreements.
  • SAF market analysis and intelligence.
  • Due diligence and risk assessment to help you decide on SAF purchases and/or investments.
  • Relationship building to find the best SAF partners, investors, and technology providers.

Carbon Offset Strategy and Implementation

We offer the following services to help you to make informed offset decisions and navigate the regulatory and voluntary carbon markets: 

  • Education on how to select, purchase, and valorize quality offsets.
  • Crafting offsetting strategies.
  • Due diligence and risk assessment to help you decide on potential offset purchases and investments in technologies such as carbon capture.
  • Sourcing high-quality offsets that meet CORSIA eligibility requirements and possess significant CSR co-benefits such as supporting indigenous people or biodiversity protection.
  • Calculating and monetizing compliance credits.
  • Sourcing tools for tracking emissions reductions against targets and ensuring that they are delivering the promised emissions reductions.

About Us

Who We Are

We are a micro boutique consulting and advisory company focused solely on aviation sustainability and decarbonization. SAVIA is a portmanteau of sustainability and aviation and represents the concept of savoir-faire and knowledge. We were created to respond to the increasing demand for specialized advice by aviation stakeholders involved in the SAF+ Consortium and beyond. We are based in Canada but operate internationally. Our clients come from all areas of the aviation industry including OEMs, lessors and financiers, airports, project developers, airlines, and government organizations.

Our Approach

We help you at every stage of your sustainability journey whether you want to take a small step or want to go all the way to net zero. We work with you to identify your key sustainability objectives and benchmark where you are against best practices. Together we develop a detailed implementation strategy to enable you to attain your goals in the quickest and most cost-efficient manner. Finally, we help you to implement the plan and follow up to make sure that you are getting the planned results.

Our Team

With extensive experience in the aviation, renewables, and project development sectors, our team is solely comprised of experienced professionals. Our areas of expertise include GHG reporting and compliance regulations, clean fuel standards, aviation sustainability, sustainable aviation fuel, carbon offsets, and market-based measures. We employ a consortium approach, bringing together key stakeholders to quickly obtain results by leveraging collaboration and knowledge sharing.

Jean Paquin

Jean Paquin

President 

Jean founded SAVIA to respond to the increasing demand for aviation decarbonization expertise. He has over 25 years of experience in developing and managing renewable energy projects in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, South-East Asia, North America and Latin America. After launching businesses in Spain and France, he became Director of Business Development for one of the world’s leading wind and solar energy consultants. Subsequently, he became director of the hydroelectric generation department and senior director of business development for one of the largest independent power generators in Canada. Jean cofounded SAF+ in 2019 to develop an e-SAF facility in Montreal and to develop similar projects in Europe and worldwide. He has an eMBA from the John Molson School of Business and a degree in Civil Engineering (B.Sc.) from Concordia University.

Keith Lawless

Keith Lawless

Managing Director

Keith is a co-founder of SAVIA. He has 21 years of multi-disciplinary airline management experience at a Canadian airline. He created and ran the airline’s award-winning sustainability department and helped to launch the first aircraft recycling and SAF projects in Quebec. Prior to this, Keith worked as a plant manager in automobile parts manufacturing, as an operations management consultant, and as a process and research engineer. He has worked and lived in Canada, Australia, the USA, and Europe. He has a metallurgical engineering degree from McGill University, an MBA from McGill/Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium), and a certificate in Business Leadership Development from Christ Church University of Oxford (UK). Keith received a Clean 50 award in 2021 given to the top fifty sustainability leaders in Canada.

Pierre Gonthier

Pierre Gonthier

VP of Legal Affairs 

Pierre is the general counsel for SAVIA. He is an expert in aviation sustainability regulations. Pierre was called to the bar in 1989 and has practiced in the government, with a large accounting firm, and in private practice. His experience covers 30 years in the areas of mergers, acquisitions and reorganizations, tax and estate planning, tax litigation and international taxation. A law graduate of McGill University and holder of a master’s degree in taxation and an MBA in international business from HEC Montréal, Pierre is also a member of the board of governors of the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law and an accredited NGO observer to the United Nations dedicated to promoting legal education and legal research on corporate sustainability and ecosystem protection.

Why Choose Savia

Clients work with us because of our unique qualities:

  • Our work with the SAF+ Consortium gives us exclusive SAF knowledge, being involved in the development of one of the first commercial e-SAF facilities in the world. 
  • Our experts have more than two decades of experience in renewable energy project development. 
  • We have a rare combination of aviation and sustainability knowledge having experience in most areas of airline operations.
  • We give outstanding value for money. Our team is composed of senior people who are totally focused on our small client base. We are efficient, have a low overhead, and are very cost conscious.
  • We are agile, nimble, flexible, and responsive to your needs and are easy and fun to work with.
  • Aviation sustainability is more than a job for us. It is our passion and life vocation. We are totally dedicated to using our knowledge and expertise to make flying more sustainable so that future generations can enjoy the same travel opportunities that we have been lucky to enjoy in our lives.
  • We stick to our knitting and do not pretend to be experts in everything. If we do not know something we will tell you and help you find someone who can better help. We have no interest in leveraging sustainability mandates into other consultancy work and favor a low-profile approach where you get the credit, accolades, and notoriety for success.