ICAO 10018 PDF

PURPOSE OF REPORT

After the adoption of Assembly Resolution A37-19 "Consolidated statement of continuing ICAO policies and practices related to environmental protection - Climate change" ¹ by the 37th Session of the Assembly in 2010, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) initiated work on tasks requested by the Assembly in order to address the effects of international aviation on climate change and continuously progress towards a sustainable aviation future.

In particular, the Assembly requested the ICAO Council: "with the support of member States and international organizations, to continue to explore the feasibility of a global MBM scheme by undertaking further studies on the technical aspects, environmental benefits, economic impacts and the modalities of such a scheme, taking into account the outcome of the negotiations under the UNFCCC and other international developments, as appropriate, and report the progress for consideration by the 38th Session of the ICAO Assembly".

This report provides an overview of the results of the quantitative and qualitative assessment related to the feasibility of a global MBM scheme, undertaken during 2012 and 2013 by the ICAO Secretariat with the support of the MBM experts nominated by Member States and international organizations. It is a technical assessment of the economic and CO₂ impacts of three options for a global MBM scheme (global mandatory offsetting, global mandatory offsetting with revenue, and global emissions trading). It also summarizes various design features for a global MBM scheme, which were qualitatively developed and assessed. It is intended to be informative and support broader policy decisions on a global MBM scheme to address mounting CO₂ emissions from international aviation.

The quantitative assessment used modelling tools while the qualitative assessment relied on extensive research and the knowledge and experience of MBM experts. To undertake a more detailed assessment of a global MBM scheme, greater definition of design features (e.g. participants, obligations, etc.) will be required.