AVIATION INDUSTRY’S PREFERRED OPTION
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Looking back In 1997, the world’s governments agreed the Kyoto Protocol which set the scene for the next 15 years of discussions on climate change. Article 2.2 of the Protocol asks for the issue of aviation emissions to be dealt with at ICAO, because of the unique and international nature of the sector. In fact, the governments meeting at ICAO had already discussed the issue of a market-based measure for aviation emissions the year before Kyoto, but the topic was shelved due to the inability to reach agreement. In 2004 again, the issue of developing a marketbased measure was discussed at ICAO without agreement. The Kyoto Protocol gave developed countries targets for reducing CO2 emissions below their 1990 levels, with differing degrees of both stringency and success. Looking at aviation emissions since 1990, the efficiency of air transport has increased by some 46%, which means that, despite the strong growth in traffic since that time, the industry has managed to avoid over four billion tonnes of CO2 from entering the atmosphere. However, the growth in air travel has meant that overall emissions have increased and, in 2008, representatives of the whole industry developed a fourpillar strategy for reducing emissions: using new technology — including sustainable low-carbon alternative fuels; operational efficiency; better infrastructure; and appropriate market-based measures to fill the gap. This was followed a year later by the first set of global targets for reducing emissions from any global industry, as the aviation sector said it would cap emissions from 2020 and halve emissions by 2050, based on 2005 levels.
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