ICAO Council adopts new CO2 emissions standard for aircraft

The 36-State ICAO Council has adopted a new aircraft CO2 emissions standard which will reduce the impact of aviation greenhouse gas emissions on the global climate. Contained in a new Volume III to Annex 16 of the Chicago Convention (Environmental Protection), the aircraft CO2 emissions measure represents the world’s first global design certification standard governing CO2 emissions for any industry sector. The Standard will apply to new aircraft type designs from 2020, and to aircraft type designs already in-production as of 2023. Those in-production aircraft which by 2028 do not meet the standard will no longer be able to be produced unless their designs are sufficiently modified. “International civil aviation has once again taken pioneering action to address the impact of aviation CO2 emissions on the global climate,” stressed ICAO Council President Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu, “making air transport the first industry sector globally to adopt a CO2 emissions design certification standard. Alongside our 39th Assembly’s landmark agreement last October on the new Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), this latest development confirms our sector’s leadership and concrete actions toward ensuring a sustainable end environmentally responsible future for global civil aviation,” President Aliu added.
A specialized agency of the United Nations, ICAO was created in 1944 to promote the safe and orderly development of international civil aviation throughout the world. It sets standards and regulations necessary for aviation safety, security, efficiency, capacity and environmental protection, amongst many other priorities. The Organization serves as the forum for cooperation in all fields of civil aviation among its 191 Member States.