The ICAO Assistance, Capacity-building and Training for Sustainable Aviation Fuels (ACT-SAF) programme was officially launched at a Stockholm+50 associated side event held at ICAO Headquarters in Montréal last week.
ICAO ACT-SAF will provide opportunities for States to develop their full potential in sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) development and deployment, in line with ICAO’s No Country Left Behind initiative, the 2050 ICAO Vision for SAF, and the three main pillars of sustainable development recognized by the United Nations: economic, social and environmental.
“While no one solution will fit all States and stakeholders, the importance of ICAO’s role in bringing partners together, and supporting capacity building and implementation, is very clear,” remarked ICAO Secretary General Juan Carlos Salazar. ”Many States and stakeholders have recognized the need for aviation to act now, and the contributions of ACT-SAF to the objectives of Stockholm+50 will encourage important near-term synergies for global action on sustainable fuels.”
The importance of SAF to the decarbonization of the aviation sector has recently been shown in the ICAO Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP) report on the feasibility of a long-term global aspirational goal (LTAG) for international civil aviation CO2 emission reductions, which will inform discussions on LTAG in the lead up to the 41st Session of the ICAO Assembly.
The LTAG report shows the largest potential CO2 reductions by 2050 (up to 55%) deriving from cleaner fuels and energy sources. New aircraft technologies are projected to contribute to a further 21% CO2 reduction, while operational improvements will lead to another 11% reduction.
“Increased international ambition on sustainable aviation at our Assembly this September will allow ICAO to explore extending the ACT SAF approach, driving wider support for aviation CO2 reductions in areas such as new technologies and more efficient operations,” emphasized ICAO Council President Salvatore Sciacchitano.
The ACT-SAF launch event was organized at ICAO’s Headquarters during a side event officially associated to Stockholm+50 to showcase ICAO, Member States and other stakeholder’s achievements and further efforts for decarbonizing aviation.
Stockholm+50 commemorates the fiftieth anniversary of the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, which was the first global meeting to make the environment a pressing global issue. The Stockholm Declaration that resulted from this event raised the issue of climate change for the first time.
ICAO will facilitate the ACT-SAF effort together with its Regional Offices and Technical Cooperation Bureau to provide ICAO implementation support in SAF to States, and will also need concerted support from States and industry in the coming months to roll-out and build-up this new initiative. ICAO is actively encouraging more States and partners to become involved in the ACT-SAF programme, as this will create positive ripple effects globally, and help unlock feedstock potentials for SAF markets over the coming decades. It will also build upon the action already taken by ICAO on SAF, leveraging for example the successes of the Organization in setting global standards for the sustainability of aviation fuels.
