ICAO's CORSIA - September 2019 Newsletter

ICAO's CORSIA Update

As of 24 September​ 2019, 81 States, representing 76.63​% of international aviation​ activity, intend to voluntarily participate in CORSIA from its outset. The latest announcement of participation came from Tanzania.

Monitoring of CO2 emissions should have started on 1^st January 2019. To monitor their CO2 emissions every eligible aeroplane operator should now have an approved CORSIA Emissions Monitoring Plan (EMP) in place. If you didn’t submit your CORSIA EMP or if it is not yet approved, we recommend you contact your CORSIA Focal Point as soon as possible.
 
As per the Environmental Technical Manual (ETM), the operators should have engaged a verification body preferably in July 2019 and start the verification process no later than in September 2019. It is recommended to start the verification process as soon as possible in order to ensure smooth compliance.

Verification bodies must be accredited by a National Accreditation Body (NAB) before they can engage in any contractual discussion with the operators. It is therefore imperative that aeroplane operators request a valid certificate of accreditation from any verification body that they are in contact with.

Read more about ICAO's CORSIA
SARPs – Annex 16 Volume IV
Environmental Technical Manual – Volume IV
​​Template of Emissions Monitoring Plan (from aeroplane operator to State)
ICAO’s CORSIA website
See VERIFAVIA's certificates of accreditation
Contact us to receive a proposal for our CORSIA verification services

CERT Version 2019 is available!
 
CERT Version 2018 was used only by operators to assess whether CORSIA MRV requirements were applicable to them, as well as to assess their eligibility to use the CERT as a monitoring method in 2019. Now operators have started monitoring their international flights and fuel and are due to report their emissions early 2020. The CERT Version 2019 can now be used to estimate 2019 emissions and/or to generate an Emissions Report (ER).
 
Operators eligible to use the CERT as their monitoring method may choose to use it to generate their ER directly by filling in all the mandatory information and inputting flights information (aircraft type and aerodromes of origin and destination). The emissions estimates are done automatically, aggregation of the data and population of the ER may be also done in one click. The tool can also be used by operators using one of the Fuel Use Monitoring Methods (FUMMs) to fill in their data gaps and to perform quality checks on their reported emissions.
 
Download ICAO CORSIA CERT Version 2019 and accompanying documents
 
TAB and Emissions Unit Programs
 
ICAO invited emissions unit programs to apply for assessment against the CORSIA Emissions Unit Criteria (EUC) by the Technical Advisory Body (TAB). The EUC document outlines the program design elements, that need to be met at each program level of the eligible offset credit program, and carbon offset credit integrity assessment criteria. The TAB will make recommendations to the Council on eligible emissions units for use in CORSIA based on the applications. The TAB is made up of 19 members that meet the required technical expertise and balanced geographical representation.
 
The list of the 14 applicants along with their filled applications can be accessed on ICAO website. It includes expected candidates such as CDM, Gold Standard, VCS Program or REDD+, as well as local programs, e.g. American Carbon Registry, China GHG Voluntary Emissions Reduction Program, Thailand GHG Management Organization and the State Forest of the Republic of Poland.
 
The TAB has now until the end of February 2020 to assess the applications against the EUC and make recommendations to Council. Another round of applications is expected for March 2020.
 
TAB website
CORSIA Emissions Unit Criteria
GreenAir Online article: ICAO invites applications from emissions unit programmes for CORSIA eligibility assessment
GreenAir Online article: ICAO advisory body to evaluate 14 programmes for eligibility under CORSIA carbon offset scheme
 
ICAO 40^th Triennial Assembly
 
Today ICAO’s 40^th Assembly begins. The ICAO Assemb​ly is the Organization’s sovereign body.  It meets at least once every three years and is convened by ICAO’s governing body, the Council. ICAO's 193 Member States and a large number of international organizations are invited to the Assembly, which establishes the worldwide policy of the Organization for the upcoming triennium. During Assembly Sessions, ICAO’s complete work program in the technical, economic, legal and technical cooperation fields is reviewed in detail.
 
One of the agenda topics is ‘International Aviation and Climate Change’ for which the Council have prepared a working paper A40-WP/55 and ‘Update on the CORSIA’ to be presented as per working paper A40-WP/56. The two papers offer review of ICAO’s work on the subjects since the last Assembly and the preview of the continuous work. Moreover, working paper A40-WP/59 includes revised version of the Resolution A39-3. States and other relevant bodies have also submitted their working papers to be presented during the Assembly.
 
Additional working papers are available on the ICAO website
GreenAir Online article: Carbon emissions from international aviation could treble by 2045 and fuel efficiency goal missed, says ICAO
GreenAir Online article: Industry and NGOs urge ICAO to adopt a long-term emissions reduction goal for international aviation by 2022

Swiss ETS update: No reporting obligation in 2020!

In 2018, aircraft operators performing domestic Swiss flights and flights from Switzerland to EEA member states were required to submit their tonne-kilometer (tkm) Monitoring Plans and submit tkm Report by the end of March 2019. The reported tkm is going to be used to establish additional free allowances for operators once the linkage between Swiss ETS and EU ETS is completed. An Agreement was signed on 23 November 2017 in Bern. It was approved by the Swiss Parliament on 22 March 2019. It must now be ratified by Switzerland and the EU before it can enter into force on 1^st January 2020.

There is now a revised Swiss Ordinance, which entered into force on 1^st June 2019. New provisions (Art. 9a and 9b) regulate the submission and evaluation of CO2 emissions monitoring plans for the Swiss ETS. Every aircraft operator planning applicable flights in 2020 must submit Emissions Monitoring Plan by 30^th September 2019. Approved EU ETS Monitoring Plans are accepted under certain conditions.

The entry into force of the Agreement sets 2020 as the first monitoring year for which emissions falling under the Swiss Ordinance must be reported and verified. There is no monitoring obligation for 2019 data, hence there will be no reporting and verification obligation in 2020. In 2021, there will be combined reporting under Swiss ETS and EU ETS, however details of the reporting requirements are not available now.

Revised Swiss Ordinance
Information on Aviation Swiss ETS
Linking of Swiss ETS and EU ETS

An overview of CORSIA for African airlines, by VERIFAVIA

After 3 years of negotiations since the ICAO 38th Assembly in October 2013, the ICAO Member States agreed on 6 October 2016 to implement a Global Market-Based Measure (GMBM) to compensate post-2020 emissions growth from international aviation. The Plenary session of the UN aviation’s 39th assembly recommended adoption of a final resolution introducing the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA).

Aviation accounts for about 2% of global emissions, and international aviation represents 1.3%. In 2010, ICAO adopted two sectoral aspirational goals, 2% annual fuel efficiency improvement and carbon neutral growth from 2020. […]

African Wings Magazine

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