Briefing

Why ICAO and Corsia cannot deliver on climate

September 22, 2019

Several years of efforts at international level have resulted in the creation of a global offsetting scheme for international aviation, known as the Carbon Offsetting Scheme for International Aviation (Corsia). Further rules for this mechanism were adopted by the UN aviation agency, ICAO, in the June 2019. This provides an opportunity to make an interim assessment of the mechanisms potential effectiveness, and to contrast that potential effectiveness with existing obligations on the aviation sector under the EU’s 2030 emissions target and legislation.

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The interim analysis finds that, due to the weakness of the Corsia target, issues inherent to offsetting, and concerns with how ICAO operates, implementing Corsia in Europe represents a direct threat to Europe’s existing climate commitments under the Paris Agreement. Over the period 2021-2030, such a move would increase Europe’s aviation emissions by 683.8 million tonnes CO₂, which is equivalent to the 2017 CO₂ emissions of Poland and France combined. The analysis was carried out by the TAKS consultancy, which was commissioned by T&E.

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