Hendricks welcomes first steps towards climate action in aviation

Federal Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks has welcomed the agreement reached by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to limit greenhouse gas emissions caused by aviation. Following on from the Paris Agreement, this agreement represents the first sector-specific mechanism for combating climate change. The global market-based measure (GMBM) will offset greenhouse gas emissions from aviation. Moreover, countries can implement their own additional climate measures for aviation.

Hendricks stated: "Aviation is showing other industries that global climate measures applying to one particular sector are possible. Although I would have liked to see a higher level of ambition, I nevertheless consider this an important signal."

The ICAO aims to achieve carbon-neutral growth from 2020. To this end, a global Market-based measure (GMBM) was agreed, to be implemented in phases, which envisages a gradual offsetting of greenhouse gas emissions from aviation. It will be launched in 2021 and participation will initially be voluntary. By the end of the ICAO Assembly in 2016, 65 countries had already signed up for the scheme. These include all EU member states, the US and China, accounting for around 86 percent of global air traffic. From 2027, the scheme will be binding for all ICAO members and their airlines. Exemptions will be permitted for some developing and emerging economies, and for countries whose airlines account for only a small volume of air traffic. The latest commitments mean that around 80 percent of the growth in CO₂ emissions from international aviation between 2020 and 2035 will be offset by effective climate measures.

To achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement, a long-term strategy for decarbonising transport is needed. The GMBM is an important element of this. Electricity-based fuels from renewable energy offer the aviation sector another promising option for the future. Hendricks remarked: "It is now vital that the climate measures adopted by the aviation sector are implemented robustly and bindingly throughout the world. The onus here is on the ICAO member states, the ICAO environmental committee and the ICAO council to deliver results. Germany has signalled its willingness to support other countries in their implementation of the measure as well." Individual countries will still be able to adopt their own climate measures for aviation. The European Commission will shortly submit a report to the Council and the European Parliament assessing the ICAO outcome and making a proposal for the ongoing restructuring of European Emissions Trading.