Other Trade-Related Activities - ICAO

The three main ICAO environmental goals are:

• To limit or reduce the number of people affected by significant aircraft noise;

• To limit or reduce the impact of aviation emissions on local air quality; and

• To limit or reduce the impact of aviation greenhouse gas emissions on the global climate.

Improving the environmental performance of aviation is a challenge ICAO takes very seriously.

In fulfilling its responsibilities, the Organization has developed, since the late 1960s, a range of Standards, policies and guidance material for the application of integrated measures to address aircraft noise and engine emissions embracing technological improvement, operating procedures, proper organization of air traffic, appropriate airport and land-use planning and the use of market-based options. Most recently, the ICAO Council adopted the Aeroplane CO2 Emissions Standard in March 2017, the world’s first global design certification standard governing CO2 emissions for any industry sector. This Standard will ensure that the latest technologies are embedded into aircraft design, allowing for the deployment of a greener generation of aircraft entering service as of 2020.

Consolidated statements of continuing policies and practices related to environmental protection are revised and updated by the ICAO Council every three years for adoption by the ICAO Assembly. The present versions, Assembly Resolutions A39-1 (on general provisions, noise, and local air quality), A39-2 (on climate change) and A39-3 (on a global market-based measure scheme), were adopted by the 39th ICAO Assembly in September-October 2016. Through the adoption of Assembly Resolution A39-3, ICAO and its 191 Member States decided to implement a global market-based measure scheme in the form of the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), to address any annual increase in total CO2 emissions from international civil aviation above the 2020 levels. CORSIA is the first of its kind in addressing a sector at a global scale.

Implementation of CORSIA will start in 2021, with States and aircraft operators having to undertake CO2 emissions monitoring as early as 2019. To ensure timely implementation of the CORSIA, ICAO and its Member States are now in the process of developing the corresponding Standards and Recommended Practices, that are expected to be adopted by the ICAO Council by the end of 2018.

CORSIA will complement a broader package of CO2 emissions mitigation measures, which includes aircraft technologies, operational improvements, and sustainable alternative fuels. ICAO and its Member States are working to promote and develop capacity building programmes to provide assistance to States and facilitate the development and implementation of States Action Plans, voluntary planning and reporting tool for States to communicate information on their activities to address CO2 emissions from international civil aviation to ICAO.

The ICAO Secretariat has developed an internationally approved Aviation Carbon Emissions Calculator. The Calculator estimates the amount of CO2 emissions from air travel and is available on the ICAO website along with the methodology. ICAO has also developed a Green Meetings Calculator, which is a tool designed to support decision-making in reducing the carbon emissions from air travel to attend meetings, and a Fuel Savings Estimation Tool to assist States to estimate fuel savings from operational improvements (www.icao.int/environmental-protection/Pages/Tools.aspx).

Also, ICAO maintains close relations with other UN policy-making bodies that have expressed an interest in civil aviation, notably with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), to which it provides regular statements on ICAO’s environment-related activities.

Partners: ICAO’s 191 Member States, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the Airports Council International (ACI), numerous civil aviation commissions and regional commissions, various associations and NGOs and others.

For more information: www.icao.int/env/