COP26: UK preps aviation climate coalition for global take-off
Reports reveal government is working on a plan to push ICAO to establish stricter emissions targets for climate laggard sector
The UK is set to launch a global aviation coalition at the COP26 Climate Summit that will aim to rally more countries behind a long-term target to reduce emissions from international flights.
The new International Aviation Climate Ambition Coalition will bring together countries that want the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to adopt an “ambitious long-term aspirational goal that is compatible with net zero global emissions by 2050”, according to documents seen by Reuters.
The declaration would also commit countries to lobby for a strengthening of CORSIA, the UN aviation agency’s flagship scheme for addressing aviation emissions through a new international carbon offset scheme. ICAO has argued that the new scheme will help curb emissions from aviation and introduceda standardised and credible carbon offset market for the sector. But critics have derided the proposals, arguing they are not ambitious enough and will have a negligible impact on aviation emissions in the coming years.
A spokesperson from the Department for Transport confirmed the new group would be announced at the upcoming climate talks in Glasgow, but declined to provide any extra details about the initiative.
Reuters reported that the aim of the scheme is to put pressure on ICAO to agree to a long-term climate goal for aviation at its 41st assembly in September next year.
The regulator has long been criticised for its weak climate targets and failure to take more ambitious action to tackle aviation’s significant emissions, with its current headline target – a non-binding goal to deliver ‘carbon neutral’ growth for international aviation from 2020 – rated as “critically insufficient” and consistent with global warming of greater than 4C by the independent Climate Action Tracker initiative. The agency has not updated its mid-century goal – to halve aviation’s emission by 2050 on 2005 levels – for 12 years, despite growing numbers of airlines adopting new net zero emissions targets.
Earlier this month, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on the UN bodies that regulate the international aviation and shipping sectors – Montreal-based ICAO and the London-based International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to adopt “ambitious and credible targets that are truly consistent with the Paris Agreement”.
The aviation sector produces more emissions than most countries in the world, and overall accounts for roughly 2.5 per cent of global carbon emissions. Its share of global emissions is expected to rise, as other sectors accelerate their decarbonisation efforts and global demand for aviation continues to climb.
While a number of net zero pledges have swept the aviation industry in the past year, these pledges remain non-binding. International aviation emissions are not currently included in many countries’ national emissions targets and as such aviation firms have escaped much of the scrutiny and pressure from governments faced by other sectors. The UK set a global precedent when it pledged to start counting international aviation and shipping emisisons in its carbon accounting from the mid-2030s earlier this year.
It remains unclear which countries are set to sign up to the UK-led declaration, but Reuters reported that the documents suggested that the US had been involved in the talks.
In related news, a raft of airlines have today joined forces with management consultancy Boston Consulting Group to launch a new initiative that aims to accelerate breakthrough technologies that can help reduce the sector’s carbon footprint.
The new Aviation Climate Taskforce (ACT), which brings together Virgin Atlantic, Air France KLM, Delta Airlines, Lufthansa, Air Canada and American Airlines and others, confirmed its intention to initially focus on medium term solutions, such as the development and use of synthetic fuel and carbon capture technologies.
However, it said its portfolio would expand over time to include near-term solutions, such as sustainable aviation fuels that can replace emissions-intensive kerosene fuel, and long-term solutions such as hydrogen technologies.
The launch of ACT and the International Aviation Climate Ambition Coalition are just two of the industry-focused initiatives that are expected to dominate the sidelines of the COP26 Climate Summit over the next two weeks. Major announcements on climate finance, phasing out coal power, tackling methane emissions, and ending the sale of internal combustion engine vehicles are also expected in the coming days, alongside the core negotiations to finalise the rulebook for the Paris Agreement.
