A good outcome at the Paris COP would help provide momentum to an ICAO MBM agreement, says IATA's Tyler

A good outcome at the Paris COP would help provide momentum to an ICAO MBM agreement, says IATA's Tyler | Tony Tyler

(photo: ASDS)

Thu 18 Jun 2015 – It would be very concerning if the progress being made at ICAO on reaching an agreement on a global market-based measure for air transport was undone by any “wrong turns” at the UNFCCC COP21 summit in Paris later this year, IATA Director General Tony Tyler (right) told an event held at the Paris Air Show today. Sharing a platform with French foreign affairs minister Laurent Fabius and ecology minister Ségolène Royal, Tyler said the unique circumstances and international nature of air transport required a different approach than the UNFCCC was able to provide but a good outcome at the COP would help to provide momentum at ICAO too. Since the industry had signed up to its climate action goals in 2009, airlines had spent nearly a trillion dollars putting new energy-efficient aircraft into their fleets, he said. The ‘COP21 from the sky’ event also included a reaffirmation of carbon reduction goals by French aviation industry leaders.

 

Tyler said aviation was a lifeline to the outside world, particularly for remote communities and small island states, and the growth in air travel had benefited the trade and tourism of developing and emerging economies the most. He said the industry had taken early action “to reconcile the need to serve all corners of the globe, to help boost development and support sustainable tourism, whilst also taking care to reduce CO2 emissions.”

 

He said the industry had been working hard with civil society to put in place an international scheme at ICAO and believed a global offsetting mechanism that ensured fair treatment of all airlines and simplicity of design would help deliver the greatest environmental integrity in the most cost-effective way.

 

“We are confident that, given the current pace of discussions, it will be possible for an agreement to be made at ICAO next year, with the implementation details being clarified in the lead-up to 2020.  This is not a process without challenges of course, but it is also the first time such a global mechanism for an individual sector has ever been attempted. Once again: aviation showing leadership.

 

“We have some tough work ahead of us at ICAO and the negotiators meeting for COP21 in this very location in six months will also have a daunting task. But they can rest assured that, for one sector at least, climate action really has taken flight.”

 

At the event in Le Bourget, Aéroports de Paris (ADP), Air France-KLM and the French aerospace industry association GIFAS signed a joint statement committing to improve energy efficiency and contribute to the UN IPCC-recommended 2 degrees C climate goal. Action would be taken, they said, on technological progress, the use of sustainable alternative fuels, and improved operating performance, airport infrastructure and air traffic management. The three organisations are working with the Civil Aviation Research Council (CORAC) and various state services to further development in these areas, they said, including a target for new aircraft to achieve a 50% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2020 and 75% by 2050, relative to the year 2000.

 

Air France-KLM said it was committed to reducing CO2 emissions from its flight operations by 20% by 2020 compared to 2011 on a per passenger per kilometre basis, while ADP is targeting a reduction in the CO2 emissions of its airport infrastructure per passenger by 50% between 2009 and 2020.

 

According to the Airbus Global Market Forecast released at the Air Show, global passenger traffic will grow at an average 4.6% a year over the next 20 years, driving a need for some 32,600 new passenger and freighter aircraft worth $4.9 trillion. By 2034, the world fleet will more than double from today’s 19,000 aircraft to 38,500, predicts the aircraft manufacturer, with some 13,100 aircraft being replaced with more fuel efficient types.

 

Rival manufacturer Boeing agrees with the 4.9% passenger annual growth forecast over the next 20 years, near the historic trend of 5%, with more than 7 billion passengers flying by the end of the period. In its annual Current Market Outlook published on the eve of the show, Boeing projects a demand for 38,050 new aircraft over the period at a value of $5.6 trillion. By the end of the forecast period, the commercial aircraft fleet will double from 21,600 in 2014 to 43,560 in 2034, it says, with 58% of the new aircraft delivered being to accommodate growth.

 

 

Links:

IATA – Tony Tyler speech in full

Air France-KLM statement

 


 

 

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