2021 CORSIA Reporting : A reminder on deadlines, rules changes, and more...

As we all are aware, the Pilot Phase of CORSIA began on the 1^st of January 2021. This brought in several changes from the 2019-2020 baseline period, and it is imperative for aircraft operators to stay up-to-date with these changes to maintain compliance with CORSIA at all times.

This article aims to summarize the notable changes to catch a glimpse of some of the relevant information.
 

There is a crucial change to the reporting deadline in the pilot phase: non-EEA based operators are now required to submit the 2021 Emissions and Verification Reports to their respective Administering Authorities by 30^th of April 2022, which is one month earlier than the 31^st of May deadline observed during the baseline phase. Please note that some States may impose an even earlier deadline – which then must be followed. For example, most EEA-based operators must comply with CORSIA together with EU ETS, by March 31^st (or earlier).
 

Offsetting requirements only apply to the international flights operated between two States that have volunteered to participate and are included in “CORSIA States for Chapter 3 State Pairs” document referenced in Annex 16, Volume IV. Aeroplane operators are now required to identify and report emissions on routes subject to offsetting requirements separately in the Emissions Report based on the list of participating States. For this purpose, it is mandatory to use the first edition of the document (dated July 2020) which lists 88 participating States (from the ICAO website) for the 2021 monitoring and reporting period.
 

Starting from the 2021 reporting period, aeroplane operators with annual CO2 emissions from international flights subject to offsetting requirements greater than or equal to 50 000 tonnes must use a Fuel Use Monitoring Method for flights subject to offsetting. For international flights not subject to offsetting requirements, aeroplane operators may use either a Fuel Use Monitoring Method or CERT, as per their approved EMP.

This is a significant change from before, since during the baseline period 2019-2020, the threshold for mandatory use of a Fuel Use Monitoring Method was 500 000 tonnes CO2 on all international flights.

In line with the above, going forward, operators with annual CO2 emissions from international flights subject to offsetting requirements of less than 50 000 tonnes shall use either a Fuel Use Monitoring Method or the CERT tool as the primary monitoring method.
 

With the start of the Pilot Phase, the data gap threshold has changed. Indeed, during the baseline period, the data gap threshold was 5% of all international flights. From 2021 onward, the data gap threshold remains 5% but on routes subject to offsetting requirements.

Please note that the 5% data gap threshold refers to the number of international flights subject to offsetting (and not to the emissions).

For more information about the 2021 version of the CERT tool, please refer to our article on the topic.
 

As seen above, the start of the Pilot Phase of CORSIA brought some changes to the monitoring and reporting rules, however many important items remain unchanged. These include the eligible monitoring methods, flight and operator exemption criteria, and the obligation to perform a third-party verification of the Emissions Report.

We invite all operators to revisit an article from our September newsletter on the pre-verification and associated control activities.

To learn more on these important topics, please se below:

> Refer to our program page to learn more about CORSIA.

> Click here to find ICAO's FAQ's on CORSIA.

> Click here to download the relevant CORSIA templates (Emissions Monitoring Plan, Emissions Report, etc..)

> 2021 CORSIA Reporting: What you need to know
 
For any queries about the changes in CORSIA in 2021, or any other questions, do not hesitate to contact us at corsia@verifavia.com