Passengers gaze out the window of their plane and take pictures as they fly over the Swiss Alps. Photo: IOM/Muse Mohammed
6 March 2017 – The United Nations aviation body
today adopted new aircraft emissions to curb the impact of aviation greenhouse
gas emissions on the global climate.
The Standard will apply to new aircraft type
designs from 2020, and to aircraft type designs already in-production as of
2023, according to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
The President of the ICAO Council, Olumuyiwa
Benard Aliu, called the decision “pioneering.”
“Air transport [is] the first industry sector
globally to adopt a CO2 emissions design certification standard,” Mr. Aliu
said.
The decision by the 36-member States of the ICAO
Council follows a move last October curb carbon emissions from passenger and
cargo airplanes as of 2020 through a carbon offset mechanism, which is
voluntary until 2027.
The ICAO Secretary General, Fang Liu, said the
accomplishment is “historic” and places aviation in “an even better position as
we look forward to a greener era of air transport development.”
