On the eve of the 39th Assembly, the International Civil Aviation Organization (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 acknowledgment 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."
