ICAO Carbon Offsetting Scheme Moves a Step Closer to Agreement as Council Releases Final Draft Resolution Text

(GreenAir Online) ICAO’s 36-State governing Council has released final draft text of a Resolution to be put before the UN agency’s triennial Assembly later this month on a global market-based measure (GMBM) aimed at keeping global net CO2 emissions from international aviation at 2020 levels. The new text moves away from a mandatory scheme from the beginning to a voluntary pilot and first phase covering the first six years (2021-2026). The second mandatory phase, which would run from 2027 to the proposed end of the carbon offsetting scheme in 2035, would exempt least developed countries and those with the lowest share of international aviation activity. However, all ICAO Member States are “strongly encouraged to voluntarily participate as early as possible.” Some countries have already announced their participation but attention will now be focused on the intentions of the major aviation carbon emitters.

If adopted by the 191 ICAO Member States, the scheme – to be known as CORSIA (Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation) – would be the first-ever global agreement covering international emissions from an entire industry sector, said an ICAO spokesman. The phased approach is designed to accommodate and reflect the differentiation in the maturity of aviation markets between developed and developing countries.

The reviews would also assess progress towards the goal of carbon-neutral growth from 2020 (CNG2020). However, as the emissions from flights not covered by the scheme due to exemptions or non-voluntary participation would not be assigned as offsetting requirements to those aircraft operators participating in the scheme, CNG2020 is unlikely to be reached during the course of the scheme, say researchers at the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), who have modelled a number of scenarios based on the new draft Resolution text.

Paradoxically, the new voluntary approach over the first six years of the scheme could provide a better coverage of international aviation emissions than the previous five-year mandatory first phase, which was based on the inclusion of States that either had an individual share of international activities, measured in revenue tonnes kilometres (RTKs), in 2018 above 1% of total RTKs, or whose cumulative share in the list of States from the highest to the lowest amount of RTKs reached 80% of total RTKs. Due to exemptions granted to States classified as Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Small Island Developing States (SIDS) or Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs), as well as the ICAO definition of RTKs, which excludes non-commercial aircraft operators, coverage of total emissions could have been as low as 69%, according to IATA, with some analysts estimating it could have been even lower.

Early signs are that countries which could have been exempted under the previous RTK criteria may well take part in the pilot/first phase, with Indonesia, Mexico and Singapore already expressing a willingness to participate. News today on the eve of the G20 summit in Hangzhou suggests China and the United States have agreed to join the ICAO scheme from the start.

Judging by government comments, however, it is unlikely that India will join the initial phases and there are doubts over the participation of Russia, which has always opposed the concept of carbon offsetting.

The Council’s working paper acknowledges the continuing different views of States over the phased implementation approach and distribution of offsetting requirements, as well as other issues, but there is optimism that after 15 years of failure, consensus will at last be reached at the Assembly on implementing a market-based measure to offset the continued fast growth of aviation emissions. READ MORE / MORE / MORE / MORE and MORE (Reuters) and MORE (Biofuels Digest) and MORE/WATCH VIDEOS (Aviation Benefits Beyond Borders) and MORE (Bloomberg)