International Civil Aviation and Climate Change

Nowadays, according to the most currently accepted scientific position, the increasingly concentrations of greenhouse gasses since the pre-industrial era, i.e., since about 1750, contributed to warm the Earth's surface and produce climate change. The atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gasses, such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide (N2O), among others, have grown significantly. This trend has been attributed in large part to human activities, primarily the use of fossil fuels, changes in land use and agriculture. 

Aircraft carbon dioxide emissions represent approximately 2% of the global total of carbon dioxide anthropic emissions. Moreover, aircraft contribute to climate change through the emission of nitrogen oxides, particularly effective in the formation of the ozone layer. All prospective scenarios assume that technological improvements and optimization of airspace availability will lead to the gradual reduction of emissions per passenger/km in the future. However, there is still a considerable degree of scientific uncertainty in the climate science that limits the ability to project aviation impacts on climate. 

The 37th ICAO Assembly established (Resolution A37-19) the commitment to achieve a global annual average fuel efficiency improvement of 2 per cent until 2020 and an aspirational rate of 2 per cent per annum from 2021 through 2050. Additionally, the Resolution invites ICAO and its member states to work to achieve a collective medium-term global aspirational goal of keeping the global net carbon emissions from international aviation from 2020 at the same level.