Countdown to CORSIA nears key milestone

At the Global Sustainable Aviation Summit in Geneva today, airlines and aircraft operators around the world were reminded about upcoming milestones for the ICAO Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA).
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Michael Gill, Air Transport Action Group (ATAG) Executive Director, said: “operators will need to start monitoring fuel use and CO2 emissions from all international flights on 1 January 2019. This is just three months away and, ahead of that milestone, an emissions monitoring plan needs to be developed and signed off by national authorities.

“We are pleased that so many operators have already taken part in training provided by the International Air Transport Association, alongside ATAG and International Business Aviation Council. If your airline is not ready, more training will be available in the coming months and we encourage all of you to take full advantage now.

“I am generally very encouraged by the readiness of aircraft operators. There has been an outstanding response to training and very positive engagement at all the workshops where we held exercises on developing emissions monitoring plans – a key first step in preparing for CORSIA implementation. This is the first time any global system like this has been attempted and, despite lots of detailed questions arising, I am confident that the industry is on track to meet its obligations.

“We must continue to ensure that Governments are also ready to play their role as authorities: signing off on emissions monitoring plans, implementing a national regulatory framework and receiving the emissions reports when they are delivered. More work needs to be done in many parts of the world. More work is also needed at ICAO, with decisions on key aspects of the emissions units for CORSIA compliance to be made in the coming months.

Nearly 500 people from 250 airlines have taken advantage of detailed training workshops offered in 2018. At the Global Sustainable Aviation Summit, governments, aviation experts, environmental group and carbon market experts have been looking at the key steps which need to be taken in the next three months, the readiness of both the carbon markets and governments for the introduction of CORSIA, and the tools available to help operators comply.