CORSIA, A Green Economy Stimulant?

By Ivano Iannelli, CEO of Dubai Carbon

CEO, Dubai CarbonIn October 2016, the ICAO General

Assembly took a stance against the environmental impact of the international aviation industry, and in cooperation with industry and civil society representatives, developed a global market-based measure (GMBM) known as the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA). CORSIA is the first industry sector mechanism to curb CO 2 emissions and aims to pursue ICAO’s goals of increasing fuel efficiency by 2% annually and carbon-neutral growth of civil aviation from 2021 onwards.

In 2018, domestic and international flights emitted almost 900M tonnes of CO2, or 2.4% of global energy-related CO2 emissions. These are expected to continue to grow with passenger numbers estimated to double in 2037.

Under the CORSIA scheme, to make all growth in international flights after 2020 carbon neutral, airlines will have to either use lower carbon sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) considered eligible by CORSIA, or buy emission reduction offsets from other sectors to compensate for any increase in emissions.

The scheme will be implemented gradually and will expand as more member states take part. Beginning next year, all airlines operating routes between volunteering states (which are currently 88) will be subject to offsetting requirements, but will only apply to operators with international emissions greater than 10,000 tCO 2 per year.

The offsetting requirements will entail airlines emitting more than their 2019 baseline to essentially buy credit that has been verified as having reduced emissions elsewhere. Airlines will use these offsets to “cancel” their own emissions and these are then removed from circulation so they may not be used again.

The ICAO Council decided on the 6 carbon-offsetting programmes and the emission units eligible for the pilot phase, and these include the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), which the UAE is quite familiar with. The CDM was designed to enable emissionreduction projects to earn Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) credits which can then be traded and sold. As of August last year, the UAE had produced over 1.3 million CERs, equating to the removal of 1.3 million tonnes of CO 2 from atmosphere globally.

The CORSIA adds a source of incentive for companies and nations to contribute to the development of a green economy. The trading of certified credits provides a new source of revenue for project developers and allow for shorter payback periods. The result is a greater willingness to invest in renewable energy projects that can generate more credits and overall raise climate protection investment.

The UAE’s willingness to volunteer for CORSIA’s pilot programme is evidence of the nation’s commitment to safeguarding the planet and managing its resources sustainably, accelerating its journey towards carbon neutrality.