Curbing carbon emissions by airlines

FINALLY, one longstanding issue overhanging the global aviation industry appears to have been resolved. And in a civilised way, one might add.

At the close of the 38th Assembly of the United Nations International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) last week, an agreement was reached committing the organisation, which regulates and oversees global aviation, to develop a global market-based measure (MBM) which would help the industry achieve carbon-neutral growth from 2020 (CNG2020). A global MBM will also complement progress on improving technology, operations and infrastructure in the industry's long-established four-pillar strategy to manage aviation's climate change impact.

Not surprisingly, the International Air Transport Association (Iata) was quick to welcome the deal hammered out to tackle the hot button issue of Climate Change. And as its director-general Tony Tyler noted, reaching this agreement among ICAO's 191 member states was a challenging task.