In the Midst of 'March Madness', Getting Ready for September

We are finding ourselves in a busy time of the year – a number of important meetings and events in CANSO as well as at ICAO are taking place in March. At the same time, we must look ahead and start planning for the Fall.

2010 is an Assembly year and preparations have already begun at ICAO for this important triennial event that will take place from 28 September to 8 October. The provisional agenda has been issued, which is aligned with the Strategic Objectives of the Organization - Safety, Security, Efficiency, and Environmental Protection, and Assembly Resolutions are being drafted or updated.

In the case of environmental protection, a special DGCA Climate Group (DGCIG) has been created by the President of the Council to assist in the drafting of an Assembly Resolution on international aviation and climate change. In the absence of a global deal reached in Copenhagen, it was felt necessary not to lose momentum and build on the work of the GIACC process and the outcome of the ICAO High-level Meeting on International Aviation and Climate Change (HLM-ENV) held in October last year.
 
The main challenge in front of the DGCIG is how to undertake further work on more ambitious medium- and long-term goals and how to develop a framework for market-based measures to reduce aviation emissions.

The first meeting of the DGCIG took place on 25-27 March, and we witnessed a similar dynamic among State representatives to the previous GIACC meetings and HLM, with some countries pushing for progress and ambition, and others not wanting to go beyond the GIACC and HLM outcomes. Industry is represented by the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG) during these discussions and our message (download presentation) has been that industry is moving ahead on targets and that a comprehensive plan of action, agreed at ICAO, is needed to support and recognize industry efforts. It remains to be seen whether States can agree to such a policy framework in time for the ICAO Assembly.