ICAO’s CO2 Emissions Standard Launches Regulatory Process

摘要

Efforts to curb airline emissions through global regulation finally got off the ground after the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) proposed an aircraft carbon dioxide standard last week, which has been in the works for six years. The new global standard is especially stringent where it will have the greatest impact: for larger aircraft that are responsible for most emissions from international aviation, according the ICAO. The first-ever binding targets for CO2 reductions were recommended by all of the 170 international experts on ICAO’s Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection, paving the way for their adoption by the UN agency’s 36-state Governing Council later this year. Operations of aircraft weighing over 60 tons account for more than 90% of international aviation emissions. They also have access to the broadest range of emissions reduction technologies, which the standard recognizes. “The goal of this process is ultimately to ensure that when the next generation of aircraft types enter service, there will be guaranteed reductions in international CO2 emissions,” ICAO President Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu said in a statement. “Our sector presently accounts for under 2% of the world’s annual CO2 emissions, but we also recognize that the projected doubling of global passengers and flights by 2030 must be managed responsibly and sustainably” (JFI Dec.21’15).