ICAO and the European Union renew environmental partnership for a sustainable international aviation

On the eve of the 39th Assembly, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the European Union EU have signed a Declaration of Intent renewing their partnership to address climate change.

The cooperation was initiated in 2013 and supported a 6.5 million euro capacity-building and assistance project implemented in 14 selected States in Africa and in the Caribbean. Each State has successfully submitted an action plan on CO² emissions reduction activities to ICAO, with a total of 218 CO² mitigation measures having been identified and now commencing implementation.

A key lesson learned regards the benefits linked to the installation of an Aviation Environmental System (AES) in beneficiary States, leading to the establishment of a robust monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) of CO² data from international aviation.

Building on the experience gained with this existing capacity-building project, the new ICAO-EU Declaration of Intent stresses the need to extend the environmental benefits observed so far.

ICAO Secretary General Dr. Fang Liu declared: “In this crucial time, European Union’s commitment to pursue its partnership with ICAO sends a strong signal to our Member States. It is the acknowledgement that well-structured assistance and capacity-building projects can deliver long-term environmental benefits and that a sense of cooperation is deeply infused in the 39th Session of ICAO Assembly”.

The European Union Commissioner for Transport, Ms. Violeta Bulc added: “With this declaration of intent, the European Union shows its readiness to stand by ICAO Member States and support their capacity-building activities, in a continued spirit of fruitful cooperation and upon the adoption of a landmark global market-based measures for international aviation.”