Executive Summary

On October 6th, Member States of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) agreed on an offsetting scheme to compensate for emissions growth from 2020 levels. The new scheme, called the Carbon Offset and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), falls short of achieving the goal of carbon neutral growth in 2020 (CNG2020), let alone aviation’s fair share of the Paris Agreement goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees. Much remains to be done to ensure that CORSIA becomes a functioning offsetting scheme, and further efforts are needed regionally and nationally to adequately address aviation’s climate impact.

This paper explains the effects of ICAO’s offsetting scheme, how it compares to other market-based measures, the risks that must be addressed and recommendations for maintaining European ambition for climate measures in the aviation sector.