Freight Forwarders welcome Global Agreement on Aviation Emissions

FIATA and CLECAT are pleased that the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) reached a decision on a mechanism to reduce aviation emissions. On Friday, 4 October in Montreal at ICAO’s 38th Assembly agreed to come up with a global market based measure (MBM) for international aviation for implementation from 2020. The aim is to have ‘carbon neutral growth from 2020 and halving emission by 2020 based on 2005 levels.’

Jean-Claude Delen, FIATA’s Immediate Past President noted that the international freight forwarding industry is pleased that the airline industry will ultimately come up with market-based measures (MBMs) to incentivise emissions abatement while maintaining a level playing-field in what is a strongly competitive international industry. This industry is in need of a consistent and accurate standard for monitoring, verification and monitoring of carbon emissions. Mr Delen said: “This agreement is an important step and we do expect that the aviation industry, like any other industry continues to seek for emissions reductions through improved technology, operations and alternative fuels to reduce emissions.”

Nicolette van der Jagt, Director General of CLECAT said: “The resolution creates however uncertainty regarding the future of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). For us, any application of the EU ETS should as a matter of principle to avoid discrimination and unfair competition among the airlines. Therefore, we urge the EU to clarify its intention regarding the EU ETS. At the same time, the text contains some loopholes and the challenge remains to keep all developing countries on board and to have them to participate in the MBM.”