Decarbonising the aviation sector requires global action, new
Transport Secretary will tell the
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
Assembly in Montreal today.
The UK is attending the assembly with the aim of reaching
agreements that help secure the sustainability and resilience of
global aviation.
During the Transport Secretary’s opening
statement, ICAO –
the United Nations’ body in charge of ensuring aviation is safe,
secure and environmentally friendly – will be urged to adopt a
long-term goal to clean up the sector and reduce its emissions in
line with the Paris Agreement.
The Secretary of State for Transport will also highlight the need
for countries around the world to learn lessons from the
international response to the COVID-19 pandemic and to ensure the
global aviation sector is better prepared for future threats,
such as public health crises.
Her intervention comes after the International Aviation
Climate Ambition Coalition, launched by the UK
at COP26,
met on Monday in Montreal.
Now bringing together governments from 56 countries across the
world, the coalition calls for ambitious action
by ICAO and
is committed to promoting the use of new fuels and technologies
to tackle aviation’s contribution to climate change.
Transport Secretary is expected to say:
We value international aviation’s important contribution to
global commerce, travel and tourism and to economic growth
globally. Now it must do so sustainably. Failure here puts the
future of aviation itself at risk.
We cannot ignore the threat that rising temperatures pose to our
planet. This year alone we have seen extreme weather events
affect all of our regions.
As one of the fastest growing sources of greenhouse gas
emissions, aviation has an important role to play in tackling
climate change.
Suzi Kerr, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist,
Environmental Defense Fund, said:
There’s a bright future ahead where we can all thrive in a stable
climate and where we can chart a more sustainable flight path
while protecting ecosystems and supporting communities.
Now is the time for countries to set a long-term path, define
waypoints and ambition in the short term and enhance transparency
and cooperation. Coordination and cooperation, such as through
the International Aviation Climate Ambition Coalition and
engagement with civil society are critical to this effort.
The assembly will be asked to agree to focus on new aircraft
technologies and unlocking the full potential of sustainable
aviation fuels on a global scale.
The push for stronger international action comes after the
government published its Jet Zero
strategy in July, which set out how UK aviation will
achieve net zero emissions by 2050 through new fuels,
technologies and other measures, and made clear how crucial
international action and collaboration through ICAO is
to effectively address aviation’s emissions.
The UK has also committed to introduce a sustainable aviation
fuels (SAF) mandate from 2025,
requiring at least 10% of jet fuel to be from sustainable sources
by 2030, with increasing proportions of SAF blended from 2025.
Turning to support for Ukraine, the Transport Secretary will
reaffirm the UK’s continued condemnation of the Russian
government’s reprehensible actions which violate international
law, the UN Charter and global aviation rules.
