IATA director general Giovanni Bisignani is keeping the pressure on states meeting at ICAO to ensure it adopts a "credible" common position to take into December's key UN environmental summit in Copenhagen.
Efforts continue at ICAO's high-level meeting on international aviation and climate change to establish a common position for aviation to take into the Copenhagen summit. The three-day meeting in Montreal is expected to end late this evening.
"Let me be very honest and very blunt," said Bisignani at the end of yesterday's session."At the end of a very difficult day, I am concerned for the outcome of your work. This meeting is in danger of two things: being held hostage by the desire for consensus and missing a great opportunity. You have 24 hours, to rise above the obstacles of a few and deliver results.
"If you fail to agree and declare a credible position for ICAO to take to COP 15, it will not be the responsibility of industry or of ICAO. It will be the failure of those gathered here who lost an historic opportunity."
IATA has submitted a joint paper with airports grouping ACI, navigation services body CANSO and the International Coordinating Council of Aerospace Industries Associations (ICCAIA) putting forward a common position for aviation.
Specifically they are calling for ICAO to adopt a three targets:
- Improving fuel efficiency by an average of 1.5% annually to 2020
- Stabilising carbon emissions from 2020 with carbon-neutral growth
- Reducing net carbon emissions 50% by 2050 compared to 2005
The outcome of the meeting will no doubt be closely watched in Brussels, as the EC moves ahead with its controversial inclusion of aviation into its emissions trading scheme.
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