Developing nations and countries below a certain greenhouse gas emissions threshold should be held to a different standard than developed nations when addressing aviation's contribution to climate change, according to a US recommendation to an International Civil Aviation Organisation working group focused on measuring progress in emissions reductions.
Developing nations should not have to report emissions until they achieve a certain percentage of passenger revenue kilometres, says Nancy LoBue, US Federal Aviation Administration deputy assistant administrator for aviation policy, planning and environment and the USA's formal representative to the Group on International Aviation and Climate Change (GIACC).
Tasked in 2007 by the ICAO general assembly with creating emissions reduction recommendations for the aviation industry, the 15-member GIACC considered the developing versus developed nations proposal during its 17-19 February meeting in Montreal. The third GIACC meeting came as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change prepared to set general greenhouse gas emission targets in December that will be effective after the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.
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One challenge for the GIACC effort is collecting high-quality data. While the USA has systematically collected fuel burn and operational figures, data collection is less straightforward elsewhere, says Carl Burleson, FAA director of the office of environment and energy and an adviser at GIACC.
Another GIACC working group has been discussing aspirational goals and a third is developing measures that will help the industry to achieve those goals. The latter group has broadly quantified an initial list of measures - such as air traffic control improvements and renewable fuels - by cost and by short-, medium- and long-term goals, LoBue says.
Meanwhile, the aspirational goals group has been zeroing in on short-, medium- and long-term timelines. GIACC discussed deadlines for medium- and long-term goals and the kind of technology that will be available to deliver particular emissions reductions at certain points, Burleson says.
The goals group has not agreed on a medium timeframe, but it is likely to be between 2020 and 2025, he says, adding that the inclusion of carbon neutral growth is up for debate.
The consensus is that 2050 should be used for the long-term timeline and the goals group will also propose discussing 2012 as a deadline for short-term plans, Burleson says. He adds that the basis for extrapolation will be historic trends between 1990 and 2006 for litres of fuel divided by revenue tonne per kilometre.
GIACC will gather again from 1-3 June and it is likely another meeting will be convened towards the end of the year.
Source: Flight International
