EUROPEAN CIVIL AVIATION CONFERENCE - CONFÉRENCE EUROPÉENNE DE L'AVIATION CIVILE

ECAC Directors General support ambitious goals to tackle climate change impacts of civil aviation

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Sorrento, 27 August 2022 - Directors General of the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) Member States reaffirmed their commitment to work together to promote ambitious international targets and measures to reduce CO2 emissions from civil aviation and assist all States in the delivery of these goals through capacity building activities and facilitating access to climate finance. The Directors General also affirmed their support for the Declaration of the International Aviation Climate Ambition Coalition [note] as part of the pursuit of these goals.

Their commitment was formalised through a joint statement made on 26 August 2022, during the 71st special meeting of ECAC Directors General of Civil Aviation in Sorrento, Italy.

[note] The Declaration of the International Aviation Climate Ambition Coalition, made at the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, in Glasgow on 10 November 2021. It can be found at https://ukcop26.org/cop-26-declaration-international-aviation-climate-ambition-coalition/

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STATEMENT

of Directors General of Civil Aviation of the Member States of the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC)

Noting the urgency of action on climate change and reaffirming their commitment to work together with all ICAO states, in the framework of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), to address the impacts of international civil aviation on the climate;

Recalling the Paris Agreement’s temperature goal of holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C;

Welcoming the initiatives of ICAO in respect of climate change including the establishment of the CORSIA at the 39th ICAO Assembly in 2016;

Recalling the 2016 Bratislava Declaration in which the 44 Member States of ECAC set out their intention to adhere to the CORSIA from the start and to strive to address the needs of States requiring technical assistance to be ready to implement the scheme;

Emphasising the commitment already made by 38 ECAC states to the Toulouse Declaration on Future Sustainability and Decarbonisation of Aviation, of 3 February 2022, in particular to the decarbonisation of aviation by 2050;

Recalling European Union position 12965/21 of 9 November 2021 on EU Member States joining the International Aviation Climate Ambition Coalition;

Welcoming the conclusions of the ICAO High Level Meeting on the Feasibility of a Global Long-Term Aspirational Goal for International Aviation CO2 Emissions Reductions (HLM-LTAG), in particular the recommendation to pursue net-zero carbon emissions by 2050;

Anticipating the importance of decisions on international civil aviation and climate change to be made at the 41st session of the ICAO Assembly;

Acknowledging the need for access to financing and capacity building to ensure that all ICAO States are able to implement the measures needed to deliver a global long-term aspirational goal (LTAG);

Directors General of Civil Aviation of Member States[1] of the European Civil Aviation Conference:

  • urge ICAO and its Contracting States to build on the outcome of the HLM-LTAG by agreeing a suitably ambitious LTAG for international aviation at the 41st Assembly, consistent with the Paris Agreement’s temperature goal and recognising the major role sustainable aviation fuels will have in delivering the reductions in CO2 emissions needed to achieve such a goal;
  • commit to work with ICAO, its Contracting States and other stakeholders, including industry stakeholders, to contribute to capacity building activities and facilitate access to finance that will contribute to achieving the LTAG;
  • affirm their support for the Declaration of the International Aviation Climate Ambition Coalition, made at the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, in Glasgow on 10 November 2021.

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[1] Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Moldova, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye, Ukraine and United Kingdom.