ICAO environmental committee brings aircraft CO2 standard closer to adoption

MONTRÉAL, 10 Feb. 2016. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)’s Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP) is recommending an aircraft carbon dioxide CO2 emissions standard, paving the way for its ultimate adoption by the U.N. agency’s 36-State Governing Council.

CO2 image courtesy Shutterstock.

Under the CAEP recommendation, the new CO2 emissions standard would not only be applicable to new aircraft type designs as of 2020, but also to new deliveries of current in-production aircraft types from 2023.

A cut-off date of 2028 for production of aircraft that do not comply with the standard was also recommended. In its current form the standard equitably acknowledges CO2 reductions arising from a range of possible technology innovations, whether structural, aerodynamic, or propulsion-based.

The proposed global standard is especially stringent where it will have the greatest impact: for larger aircraft. Operations of aircraft weighing over 60 tonnes account for more than 90 percent of international aviation emissions. They also have access to the broadest range of emissions reduction technologies, which the standard recognizes.

CO2 image courtesy Shutterstock.

The CAEP took great care to ensure that the proposed Standard covers the full range of sizes and types of aircraft used in international aviation today. Its solution encompasses all technological feasibility, emissions reduction potential, and cost considerations, officials say.

The CAEP’s recommendation responds “directly to the aircraft technology improvements which States have forged consensus on at recent ICAO Assemblies,” ICAO Council President Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu says. “Every step taken in support of ICAO’s full basket of measures for environmental improvement is an important one, and I am sure the Council will be deeply appreciative of the this latest CAEP achievement.

“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,” President Aliu stresses. “Our sector presently accounts for under two percent 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.”