Aircraft

The first global agreement on tackling the airline industry’s increasing CO2 emissions has been signed by 191 countries at the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the UN specialised agency for aviation.

The latest agreement was arrived at the ICAO’s 38th General Assembly follwing two weeks of negotiations.

The resolution requires governments develop a global market-based measure (MBM) to curb aviation climate emissions from 2020, and will be decided at the next ICAO assembly scheduled for 2016.

Technical discussions will be held during the next ten years as the countries work on the design elements of the scheme, including standards for the monitoring, reporting and verification of emissions and the type of scheme to be executed.

Air Transport Action Group (ATAG) executive director Paul Steele said the agreement is clearly an historic resolution, showing the leadership of both developed and developing country governments meeting at ICAO in driving to the first comprehensive agreement on climate change for any global sector.

"The aviation industry has been advocating for such a scheme since we developed the first global industry targets five years ago."

"The aviation industry has been advocating for such a scheme since we developed the first global industry targets five years ago," Steele said.

"We now have agreement on a global scheme and a timeline and the building blocks to deliver it."

The aviation industry, coordinated through ATAG, submitted a working paper to the Assembly from the global associations Airports Council International (ACI), International Air Transport Association (IATA), Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO), the International Business Aviation Council (IBAC) and the International Coordinating Council of Aerospace Industries Associations (ICCAIA).

The ICAO resolution allows countries to introduce their own MBMs in the interim, and prevents EU from expanding emissions trading scheme (ETS) to include foreign airlines until the global agreement is in place.

Image: The agreement will see governments develop a global market-based measure (MBM) to curb aviation climate emissions from 2020. Photo: courtesy of Suzanne T.

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