Policy paper

Declaration: International Aviation Climate Ambition Coalition

Updated 26 October 2023

Declaration

We, the ministers and representatives of states and organisations, participating in the International Aviation Climate Ambition Coalition,

Recalling the inaugural meeting of the Coalition at the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, in Glasgow on 10th November 2021,

Being both Parties to the Paris Agreement and Contracting States to the Convention on International Civil Aviation 1944 (“the Chicago Convention”), or ICAO Observer Organisations,

Recognising international aviation’s material contribution to climate change through its CO₂ emissions, along with its additional, but less well-defined, contribution associated with non-CO₂ emissions,

Also recognising that despite the impact of COVID-19, the international aviation industry and the number of global air passengers and volume of cargo is expected to increase significantly over the next 30 years,

Acknowledging the impact of COVID-19 on the global aviation sector and the need to develop initiatives that enable the aviation industry to continue to build back better and grow in a sustainable manner,

Emphasising that international action on tackling aviation emissions is essential given the global nature of the sector and that cooperation by states and aviation stakeholders is critical for reducing the aviation sector’s contribution to climate change, including its risks and impacts,

Recalling the Paris Agreement’s temperature goal of holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C,

Recognizing that achieving net zero global CO₂ emissions by 2050 will maximize the possibility of keeping the global average temperature increase below 1.5°C, and the need to align international efforts to reduce emissions from the aviation sector consistent with a pathway towards achieving this temperature limit,

Acknowledging that the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is the appropriate forum in which to address emissions from international aviation through in-sector and out-of- sector measures to implement short-, medium- and long-term goals, including the development of a global sustainability framework to support the deployment of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA),

Welcoming the resolution of the 41st ICAO Assembly, to strive to achieve a collective long- term global aspirational goal for international aviation (LTAG) of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, in support of the Paris Agreement’s temperature goal, and the industry’s commitments towards the same goal,

Commit to:

1. Working together, both through ICAO and other complementary cooperative initiatives, to advance ambitious actions to reduce aviation CO2 emissions in line with the goal for international aviation of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, in support of the Paris Agreement's temperature goal.
2. Supporting the implementation of all the elements of the basket of measures for the achievement of the goal of net zero CO₂ emissions by 2050, recognizing that the largest potential impact on aviation CO₂ emissions reduction will come from fuel- related measures.
3. Ensuring the maximum effectiveness of CORSIA, including by:
1. Supporting efforts at ICAO and working with other ICAO member states and observer organisations to implement and strengthen CORSIA as an important measure to address aviation emissions, including to expand participation in CORSIA, and participating in CORSIA as soon as possible, if our state has not done so already.
2. Taking steps domestically to implement Annex 16 Volume IV of the Chicago Convention as fully as possible and in a timely manner, including with respect to enforcement of domestic regulations, legislation, or implementation arrangements.
3. Advancing the environmental ambition of the scheme in the course of undertaking the CORSIA Periodic Reviews.
4. Working to ensure that double counting is avoided through the host state's application of corresponding adjustments in accounting for its nationally determined contribution under the Paris Agreement for the mitigation underlying all CORSIA Eligible Emissions Units and, where needed, CORSIA Eligible Fuels, used toward CORSIA compliance.

4. Promoting the development and deployment, through international and national measures, of sustainable aviation fuels that reduce lifecycle emissions and contribute to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular avoiding competition with food production for land use and water supply.
5. Promoting the development and deployment, through international and national measures, of innovative new low- and zero-carbon aircraft technologies that can reduce aviation CO₂ emissions.
6. Preparing up-to-date state action plans detailing ambitious and concrete national action to reduce aviation emissions and submitting these plans to ICAO in line with the applicable ICAO Assembly Resolution.
7. Promoting capacity building support for the implementation of CORSIA and other ICAO climate measures, including to advance uptake of freely available tools and to expand regional expertise, accreditation and access to markets for sustainable aviation fuels and CORSIA Eligible Emissions Units.
8. Convening periodically at both ministerial and official levels with a view to advancing and reviewing progress on the above commitments.

We invite other states and organisations to commit to this declaration and work with us towards our shared objectives.

This declaration supersedes the previous Declaration of the International Aviation Climate Ambition Coalition.

Signatories

Signed by the ministers and representatives of:

Albania

Austria

Belgium

Belize

Bulgaria

Burkina Faso

Canada

Chad

Costa Rica

Côte d’Ivoire

Croatia

Cyprus

Czech Republic

Denmark

Dominican Republic

Equatorial Guinea

Estonia

European Civil Aviation Conference

European Union

Finland

France

Georgia

Germany

Greece

Guinea

Hungary

Iceland

Ireland

Italy

Japan

Kenya

Republic of Korea

Latvia

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Madagascar

Maldives

Malta

Mexico

Monaco

Montenegro

Morocco

Netherlands

New Zealand

Niger

North Macedonia

Norway

Papua New Guinea

Poland

Portugal

Romania

Rwanda

Slovakia

Slovenia

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

Trinidad and Tobago

Turkey

Ukraine

United Kingdom

United States of America