The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) today urged its 193 member states to renew their commitment to CORSIA, the global system for offsetting and reducing carbon emissions from international aviation that is marking its tenth anniversary.
The United Nations agency, headquartered in Montreal (Canada), marked the 10th anniversary of the approval, on 6 October 2016, of the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA, in English), which it described as the first market-based global measure adopted by an economic sector to address carbon emissions.
The scheme was created to enable carbon-neutral growth in international aviation from 2020 and is currently one of ICAO’s principal instruments for achieving the target of net-zero carbon emissions in international aviation by 2050.
CORSIA complements emission reductions achieved through improvements in aircraft technology and operations, and allows the offsetting obligations to be reduced by using eligible fuels with a lower carbon footprint.
According to ICAO, the volume of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) and other low-carbon fuels certified under the program has more than doubled in the last two years.
The chair of ICAO’s Council, Toshiyuki Onuma, said that the unanimous backing by member states confirms the central role of CORSIA and helps avoid “fragmented or duplicated” measures among countries.
The Secretary General of the organization, Juan Carlos Salazar, considered that the coming years will be “decisive,” advocating the acceleration of sustainable fuel development and a rigorous application of the scheme.
