Aviation Industry throws out climate agreement
ICAO Council Bows to Aviation Industry Request to Rewrite First Three Years of Climate Program Rules EDF statement from Annie Petsonk, International Counsel (June 30, 2020) The 36-member Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) today unilaterally changed the rules for the first three years of the agency’s flagship climate program, the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation ( CORSIA ). The Council decided that if, in 2020, aviation emissions fall by more than 30% below 2019 levels, the program’s rules will automatically change, in effect suspending airlines’ obligations to offset a portion of their carbon pollution. "The coronavirus pandemic has caused pain and loss around the world – for families, for communities and for working people. Airlines have been hit hard. One effect of the decrease in air travel is that carbon emissions from aviation have declined sharply. And now the industry is at an inflection point. “As ai