Environment: the aviation sector promises carbon neutrality by 2050

Published on: 07/10/2022 – 21:18 Decarbonizing one of the sectors most pointed out in the climate crisis, that of aviation, is what the 193 Member States of the Organization of the ‘International Civil Aviation. This UN agency says it has reached a “historic agreement” to achieve the goal of zero carbon emissions by 2050. An agreement to achieve carbon neutrality in 2050 in global civil aviation was reached on Friday October 7 , announced the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a UN agency. The representatives of the 193 States gathered for the assembly of this organization sitting in Montreal have reached “a historic agreement on a collective objective long-term ambition of zero carbon emissions by 2050,” ICAO tweeted. “It’s an excellent result,” said a European diplomatic source to AFP, who said that “only four countries, including China, had expressed reservations.” Today responsible for 2.5 to 3% of global CO2 emissions, the aviation sector is proving difficult to switch to renewable energies, even if the aeronautical industry and energy companies are working hard on it. critical because perceived as a means of transport reserved for the richest. In addition, 50% of air emissions come from the 1% of travelers who travel the most. The International Air Transport Association (Iata) said it was “strongly encouraged” by the vote at ICAO, which comes a year after this spokesperson for companies endorsed the same principle at a general meeting. Its director general, Willie Walsh, now expects “much stronger public policies in favor of decarbonization, such as incentives to increase the production capacity of sustainable aviation fuels”, of non-fossil origin, the main lever to reduce emissions from the aviation sector according to the companies. in a statement Luis Felipe de Oliveira, the director general of the Airports Council International (ACI World). “It’s a turning point in efforts to decarbonize the aviation sector, with governments and industry now heading in the same direction, within a common regulatory framework.” the agreement is still far from satisfying environmental NGOs who regret its weakness and its non-binding nature. “This is not the time for the Paris agreement for aviation”, lamented in particular Jo Dardenne, from the NGO Transport & Environment (T&E). “Let’s not pretend that a non-binding objective will make it possible to bring aviation back to zero”. The same disappointment concerning the adjustment of its carbon offsetting mechanism (Corsia) which was reviewed by the assembly of the Organization of International civil aviation. During the ten days of its assembly, the ICAO also decided to exclude Russia from the governance council in an unprecedented sanction vote. Moscow is accused of breaking international rules by registering hundreds of leased planes at home rather than returning them, as required by sanctions imposed after the invasion of Ukraine in February. International Civil Aviation was the first since the start of the Covid-19 crisis which had brought the air sector to its knees. In 2021, the companies found only half of their 4.5 billion passengers before Covid, a slight rebound compared to the 60% drop over one year in 2020. The sector plans in 2022 to transport 83% of its customers from three years ago and to become profitable again next year. With AFP