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News
Copenhagen agreement step in right direction
-Aviation strengthens commitment to tough targets-
Copenhagen - The International Air Transport Association (IATA) welcomed the Copenhagen Accord as an
important step in the right direction for climate change. Aviation emissions
were not addressed specifically in the Accord, a reflection of the pro-active
measures the industry has taken to set challenging targets for itself, together
with an aggressive strategy to achieve them. The industry will continue to
work towards achieving these global targets, which were recognized by the member
states of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) at its High Level
Meeting on Environment in October 2009 and which were commended by UN Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon at a meeting with Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director
General and CEO, in New York later that month. IATA will continue to work with
ICAO to develop a global framework for managing aviations emissions.
“We came to Copenhagen to be part of the deal and we were encouraged by the level of support for the
industry’s global sectoral approach and targets. We will continue to press
states to include these global targets in any future deal,” said Bisignani.
“Airlines, airports, air navigation service providers and manufacturers are
reinforced in their commitment (1) to improve fuel efficiency by an average of
1.5% per year to 2020, (2) to stabilize carbon emissions from 2020 with
carbon-neutral growth, and (3) to a net reduction in carbon emissions of 50% by
2050 compared to 2005,” he added.
Bisignani said, “We also found consensus among the delegations that a global sectoral approach should
be established for aviation emissions by ICAO, the UN’s specialized agency for
aviation. We will work closely with ICAO to prepare a global framework for
managing aviation’s emissions for the ICAO Assembly to consider in September
2010. And we will urge governments to ensure this framework is presented to
COP16 in December 2010. In the meantime we continue to urge governments to avoid
creating a patchwork of national and regional solutions and to ensure aviation’s
emissions are dealt with as a sector and across the world. A global sectoral
approach supported by tough targets is the only sensible way forward for a
global industry.”
A Global Sectoral Approach, under ICAO, to manage aviation’s emissions will ensure a level playing
field. The approach consists of three main elements:
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Full accounting for aviation’s emissions as a global industrial sector, not by state
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Global coordination of economic measures to ensure that aviation will not pay more
than once for its emissions
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Full access to global carbon markets
The aviation industry is already working towards its climate change goals through its four pillar
strategy. The strategy focuses on investing in new technology, flying smarter,
building efficient infrastructure, and taking advantage of positive economic
measures.
-IATA-
Contact:
Anthony Concil
Director Corporate Communications
Tel: +41 22 770 2967
Email: corpcomms@iata.org
Notes for Editors:
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IATA is the global association for the airline industry. IATA’s 230 member airlines
comprise 93% of scheduled international traffic.
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The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is the specialized UN agency for
international civil aviation.
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