Air transport global growth projections have revealed a potential doubling of flight volumes by 2030, pointing to the need for airport and air navigation system modernization to accommodate the expected traffic safely and efficiently. Increased congestion could threaten aviation’s historic and often under-appreciated role in supporting increased rapid global connectivity and greater sustainable prosperity for cities and regions worldwide.
MONTRÉAL, 21 March 2016 – ICAO Secretary General Dr. Fang Liu highlighted today that the UN specialized agency for civil aviation will be contributing important data to help monitor progress towards the achievement of UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 9, which specifies the need for resilient infrastructure to be developed in order to promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation.
“The development of infrastructure that supports sustainable economic development and human well-being is essential to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and a critical one for global aviation,” Dr. Liu explained. “This is especially the case given the direct links between projected growth for our sector, the need for airport and air navigation system modernization to accommodate increased traffic safely and efficiently, and the ultimate capability of our network to support global connectivity and greater sustainable prosperity for cities and regions worldwide.”
The ICAO announcement arrived subsequent to a decision last Friday where the UN Statistical Commission endorsed the global indicator framework for monitoring progress towards achieving the UN SDGs under Agenda 2030.
Progress towards SDG 9 is to be evaluated based on a series of targets, the first of which will be to SDG Target 9.1: “Develop quality, reliable, sustainable and resilient infrastructure, including regional and trans border infrastructure, to support economic development and human well-being, with a focus on affordable and equitable access for all.”
ICAO will support the agreed global indicator of SDG Target 9.1 – passenger and freight volumes by mode of transport – by serving as the lead agency responsible for collecting and sharing data on related air transport indicators from amongst its 191 Member States.
“This data and methodological framework will help to facilitate how States monitor their national progress toward SDG Target 9.1, in addition to assisting the UN Statistics Division with monitoring progress at the global level,” Dr. Liu explained. “ICAO will also be eager to continue its recent efforts to assist States, international and multilateral organizations and developmental banks as they work to identify and act on funding gaps and policy issues currently constraining infrastructure development, especially in the civil aviation sector.”
Dr. Liu also stressed that ICAO’s five Strategic Objectives and work programmes directly contribute to the attainment of the UN SDGs, especially through the implementation of the ICAO No Country Left Behind (NCLB) initiative. She signalled ICAO’s full commitment to work in close cooperation with States and other UN Bodies to achieve all associated targets, and to serve as an official observer on the Inter-agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators.
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