The Toulouse Aviation Summit, held this week under the aegis of the French presidency of the European Union, concluded today with a new Declaration calling on all countries to take measures to achieve a decarbonized aviation sector by 2050.
The European Commission, the 27 EU Member States, and 10 other Member States of the European Civil Aviation Conference (Albania, Georgia, Iceland, Moldova, Monaco, Norway, San Marino, Serbia, Switzerland and the United Kingdom) affirmed their support for the goal of achieving carbon neutrality in the air transport sector by 2050. Canada, Japan, Morocco and the United States also took part in the event and contributed their support.
The Declaration was also adopted by 146 industry stakeholder groups taking part at the event, including the five leading European aviation associations represented through Destination 2050.
The Declaration signatories called on all public and private stakeholders to work together in preparation for ICAO’s 41st Assembly later this year, where countries are expected to adopt a new long-term global goal applicable to international flight emissions reduction/elimination.
ICAO was represented at the event by ICAO Council President Salvatore Sciacchitano, who welcomed the event and its objectives as “a testimony to the strong commitment to continue to work on the basis of the Declaration adopted by Ministers at the end of the ICAO High Level Conference on COVID-19.”
The Council President also underscored that governments and aviation industry have made ambitious recent decisions and taken concrete actions towards the decarbonization of international aviation, despite the ongoing pandemic and its impacts, highlighting the recent launch of the International Aviation Climate Ambition Coalition during the UNFCCC COP26 event in Glasgow.
“Cooperation is critical to our progress in this area,” Mr. Sciacchitano emphasized. “As we have seen during today’s event, the pandemic has given us the opportunity to embark on a more sustainable path. In that regard, I commend all participants for their strong engagement to greening the aviation sector.”
The ICAO Council President also stressed that the focus on a global long term goal “must not reduce our efforts to pursue the medium-term carbon neutral goal,” highlighting the ICAO basket of measures being pursued by States and the particular importance on Sustainable Alternative Fuels (SAF).
