Climate change top of the agenda at ICAO Assembly
View(s):The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has expressed high expectations for the decisions, including issues relating to climate change, that countries will make at the 38th Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) on 24th September in Montreal, Canada.
“Climate change will be at the top of the Assembly’s agenda. We will be looking to states to make decisions that will enable the industry to meet its ambitious commitment to stabilising its emissions from 2020 via carbon-neutral growth (CNG2020),” noted Tony Tyler, IATA’s Director General and CEO, in a public statement issued by the organisation.
He said it is important that governments keep firmly focused on reaching agreement on a global solution. “Environment is a global challenge. Aviation is a global industry. And we need a global way forward. National or regional schemes are politically charged distractions. We must not allow such discussions to get in the way of important progress that needs to be made,” he added.
At IATA’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in June, its member airlines overwhelmingly endorsed a resolution calling on governments to agree to a mandatory global carbon offset scheme as the single MBM to be applied worldwide. This has been reflected in a united working paper presented to the Assembly by the Airports Council International (ACI), the Civil Air Navigation Services Organization (CANSO), the International Coordinating Committee of Aerospace Industry Associations (ICCAIA), the International Business Aviation Council (IBAC) and IATA.
The IATA statement said the industry is also keen to see governments endorse a globally coordinated approach to consumer protection. IATA submitted a passenger rights working paper calling on governments to agree to a set of high level core principles on consumer protection to combat the proliferation of uncoordinated national and regional passenger rights regimes. Taking into consideration the consequences to the consumer of such regulatory fragmentation, the Sixth Worldwide Air Transport Conference urged the development of core principles for consumer protection. IATA’s 2013 AGM unanimously approved a resolution outlining such core principles. IATA is asking the Assembly to utilize these principles as ICAO seeks to develop a common approach among governments and to urge states to incorporate the IATA resolution’s principles into existing and future passenger rights regimes.
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