Efforts to address the rapid growth of emissions from air travel have been under discussion for years within the United Nations’ aviation body – the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). In 2013, ICAO agreed on a goal of limiting international aviation’s net emissions growth to 2020 levels (estimated at roughly 700 million tonnes CO2 per year in 20201 ), via a mix of efficiency measures, biofuel use, technology and operational improvements including a CO2 standard, and a global market-based measure (GMBM). In other words, the industry’s growth from 2020 onward should be “neutral” in terms of net CO2 emissions.
After nearly 20 years of international negotiations, 191 countries are positioned to adopt a global market-based measure (GMBM) to address emissions growth from international aviation during a two-week aviation summit in Montreal from 27 September to 7 October, 2016.
The High Ambition Coalition (HAC) – a group of countries united in their desire to not just get a deal, but to get a good deal – played a crucial role in the Paris climate conference. Now they are needed to guarantee high enough level of ambition in cutting emissions in the aviation sector.
Brussels 11 May 2016. On the opening day of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) high level meeting in Montreal, 64 environmental organisations and Members of the European Parliament call for the aviation sector to develop a robust tool to reduce their emissions in line with the Paris agreement.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) organized five Global Aviation Dialogues (GLADs) around the world to discuss the latest draft proposal on a market based measure to curb emissions from international aviation. The dialogues came to a close on 8 April, but there are already worrying signs that important elements around ambition, emission unit quality criteria and double counting of these units may not be adequately addressed. If left untreated, these missing elements would lead to a toothless proposal that will do little for the environment.
Background In October this year, member countries of the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) will decide what role the aviation sector should play in tackling climate change. As this will be the first important milestone in tackling aviation emissions, civil society must play a decisive role in lobbying for stringent rules, ambitious targets, and …
Read more “Take-off Toolkit: Acting on Aviation Emissions”
The Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP) of the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) concluded its meeting to make recommendations on a number of measures to reduce CO2 emissions from international flights on Friday 12th February.