As the ICAO General Assembly opens in Montreal (27 September - 7 October), 90 NGOs have criticised the weakness of the text that is being negotiated to involve the international air travel sector in the fight against climate change.
The offsetting system for carbon emissions from other sectors, which the NGOs say is largely admitted as being a bad solution, is of great concern to the NGOs. In a joint statement, NGOs from North and South, be it environmental, development, defence of forestry, the climate, nature and communities, call on international civil aviation to reduce its carbon emissions immediately and rule out offsetting for carbon credits from forestry and agriculture, as an initial step.
"ICAO’s proposal seriously lacks ambition. One of the main concerns is that ICAO’s proposal to reduce the climate impact of aviation relies heavily on carbon offsetting", say the NGOs, noting that a reduction in emissions has to start now. Offsetting will not allow the Paris Climate Agreement target to be met of reducing average global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius, aiming at 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The NGOs are furious that aviation is on the fringes of the fight against climate change although its emissions almost doubled from1990 to 2006 and could triple by 2050 (an increase of between 300% and 700% ). They are also furious that aviation is only aiming to ensure neutral carbon growth from 2020 onwards and to make use of carbon offsetting in 2027 rather than actually reducing emissions. The NGOs argue that forestry and soil are not there to offset fossil fuel emissions. They point out that degradation (REDD+) type projects or agriculture are particularly contentious, with greater risks for the climate when used for offsetting, particularly if fraud in the sale of carbon credits is to be avoided. The signatories include Greenpeace International, Friends of the Earth International, Sustainable Alternatives for Development Cameroon, Biofuelwatch UK/US, Food and Water Europe and FERN Belgium and France. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)