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The civil aviation arm of the United Nations will ease carbon-offsetting requirements set to take effect for airlines next year.
The International Civil Aviation Organization decision followed a recommendation from IATA, which pushed for the change due to the Covid-19 crisis.
The decision relates to the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), which commences next year with a three-year pilot phase. Under CORSIA rules approved by ICAO with airline industry support in 2016, carriers were to be required to offset all international flight emissions in excess of the average of their 2019 and 2020 emissions. Countries representing 77% of international aviation, including the U.S., have committed to participating in the three-year pilot period.
The pilot period is to be followed by a three-year voluntary scheme between 2024 and 2026. After that, participation will be mandatory for most countries. CORSIA is a linchpin of what had been the airline industry’s commitment to carbon-neutral growth from 2021 onward, and to reducing emissions 50% from the 2005 level by 2050.
ICAO’s revision changes the emissions baseline to account for the collapse of flying this year. Rather than setting the baseline for airlines as their average emissions in 2019 and 2020, carriers will now be able to use their 2019 flying alone as the baseline.
ICAO said that the sharp and unanticipated drop in airline operations this year would have led to a consequential reduction in the CORSIA baseline.
“This, in turn, would create an inappropriate economic burden to airplane operators, due to the need to offset more emissions although they are flying less and generating less emissions,” an ICAO statement reads.
ICAO also said that the requirements of the voluntary and mandatory phases of CORSIA might need to be changed. Such adjustments could be made in 2022, at the next ICAO Assembly.
In a statement Wednesday, IATA praised the ICAO’s decision while reasserting its commitment to reducing emissions.
“Today’s decision to remove 2020 from the baseline calculation marks a pragmatic way forward that maintains the intent, spirit and impact of the CORSIA agreement,” director general Alexandre de Juniac said. “And it gives all stakeholders the confidence to focus on successfully delivering CORSIA and achieving our long-term emissions reduction goals, even in this time of crisis.”
The move drew sharp criticism from the Environmental Defense Fund.
With some projecting airline demand won’t recover to 2019 levels for several years, EDF international counsel Annie Petsonk argued that the change may have the effect of suspending all airline offset obligations during the 2021-2023 pilot phase.
“As airlines scramble to recover from the Covid-19 crisis, they can’t afford to ignore the looming global crisis of climate change,” Petsonk said. “Real leadership means setting the aviation sector on a path toward net-zero climate impacts as swiftly as possible. The sooner that the costs of carbon control are included in the costs of doing business, the sooner new technologies will be developed.”
Source: travelweekly.com