Aviation’s impact on the environment: Updates from the EUR NAT region

In 2021, the ICAO EUR/NAT Office organized several events to support States for the development and update of the State Action Plans as well as for the implementation of CORSIA requirements and the related environment tools. We further strengthened cooperation with regional organizations to facilitate capacity-building activities and avoid duplication.

Several events were organized in coordination with ACAO for the North African EUR States and MID Region on Action Plan and implementation of CORSIA requirements. Two joint events were held with ECAC on State Action Plans and CORSIA to support European States. Furthermore, the ICAO EUR/NAT Office participated at several capacity building webinars organized by other organizations.

As of today, 48 EUR/NAT States have already developed and submitted their State Action Plan to ICAO at least once; 28 States have updated their SAP in 2021 and submitted them using the APER website and 1 State has submitted its first State Action Plan.


CORSIA

We continued to work directly with States to support the CORSIA requirements implementation as there were several milestones to complete in 2021. This included informing ICAO on the voluntary participation to CORSIA prior to 30 June 2021; the submission of the CO2 emissions data for the year 2020 to ICAO through the Central CORSIA Registry (CCR) by 31 August 2021 as well as the submission of the list of aircraft operators and verification bodies by 30 November 2021. Support to States was provided by organizing video calls with groups of States as well as providing technical assistance directy to the States’ Focal Points.

Under the ICAO ACT-CORSIA programme, buddy partnerships among States have been established across the Regions involving 4 donor States from the EUR/NAT Regions and 14 recipient States. During the ACT CORSIA phase 3, which started in April 2020 through 2021 focusing on the implementation of reporting and verification requirements, the EUR/NAT Office organized and supported several ACT CORSIA seminars and follow up coordination calls to train States from Central and Eastern Europe with the support of Germany and for the North African EUR States with the support of France.

As of today, 50 States have provided their 2020 CO2 emissions data to ICAO using the CORSIA Central Registry and 48 States have provided their list of Aeroplane Operators for 2021.

The environment will remain high on the priority list of 2022 with global events such as the High-level meeting on the Long Term Aspirational Goal, or the 41st Assembly. A number of regional events, such as the ICAO EUR/NAT Environment Task Force, ACT CORSIA webinars and environment workshops on CORSIA eligible fuels and emissions units are planned.

We will continue to strengthen our capacity-building activities to further support the States and provide individual and tailored assistance.

The State Action Plan is a means for the ICAO Member States to establish a long-term strategy on climate change for the international aviation sector, involving all interested parties at a national level. In conjunction with the current ICAO Stocktaking process, the States Focal Points are encouraged to include innovative mitigation measures showcasing the new activities undertaken in the States. States that did not update their State Action Plan in the current triennium or need support to develop their State Action Plan are invited to contact the Regional Office if support is needed.

With regard to CORSIA, our focus in 2022 is to provide training for Focal Points on CORSIA MRV implementation, in particular, the submission of 2021 CO2 Emissions Reports as well as provide information on CORSIA eligible fuels (CEF).

In 2022, in accordance with ICAO Annex 16 volume 4, States will have to continue monitoring, verifying, and reporting the CO2 emissions generated by the international flights to ICAO. However, the timeline is slightly modified compared to that of the previous years. In 2022, States are required to provide 2021 CO2 emissions on States pairs (same as for 2019/2020), with new reporting requirements including the provision of total 2021 emissions for each airplane operator; and the provision of two aggregated figures (one for State pairs subject to offsetting requirements, and a second one for State pairs not subject to offsetting requirements). In addition, States with airplane operators that use CEF and wish to claim associated emissions reductions, have to submit additional information on the CEF claimed.

CORSIA – Upcoming deadlines for 2022 as set by Appendix 1 of Annex 16 vol. IV


 

 

CorsiaEURNAT Newsletter Issue 5 (2022)State Action Plan