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search for efficiency embedded in its very DNA – traits that are essential for achieving the environmental goal of doing more while consuming fewer resources.It is a fact that aircraft emit carbon. And the industry understood that its future needed to be sustainable. As far back as 2007, the entire aviation industry was uniting behind a four-pillar strategy to reduce emissions. The strategy continues to guide our efforts with a focus on new technology, greater operational efficiency, better use of infrastructure, and access to a global market based economic measure in the form of the recently agreed CORSIA. Crucially, every part of the industry and governments have a part to play in delivering the strategy. We all have a stake in its success. And that was one of the driving forces for the epoch-making CORSIA agreement.TARGETSIn 2009 the industry married the four-pillar strategy to three consecutive carbon targets:1.5 per cent average annual fuel efficiency improvement to 2020Capping net emissions through carbon-neutral growth from 2020 (CNG2020)Cutting net emissions to half 2005 levels by 2050.By agreeing tough targets to cap and ultimately cut emissions, the industry earned credibility with governments and progressive NGOs as a genuine partner for sustainability. In fact the same targets were largely adopted by governments at the ICAO Assembly in 2010. The credibility of industry and governments was now tied to common deliverables with deadlines to be met. There was a sense of urgency and a timetable for action.CONSISTENCYBy the 2013 ICAO Assembly, governments and industry were focused on the fourth pillar – a global market based measure (GMBM). Improvements in technology, operations and infrastructure continued in earnest. But it was realized that to meet the CNG2020 target a GMBM would be needed. There followed three years of complex negotiations as the technical and political aspects of a GMBM were debated. IATA fully supported the process with practical advice to shape a GMBM that would be effective and implementable in time. From the start, the industry had a number of key objectives for the GMBM. It needed to be fair and non-discriminatory against carriers from different countries. It had to be practical and easy to administer. It absolutely needed to lead to real and permanent emissions reductions. And it was not meant to be punitive. The objective was not to stop the benefits of growing connectivity, rather to ensure that the industry could grow sustainably. Throughout this period, the industry was consistent in its messages to governments and its technical advice on the GMBM. Policy-makers were left in no doubt what the industry considered to be the best approach to the issue.In financial terms, the wide estimates of the potential costs to the industry of CORSIA-ICAO has indicated a range of US$1.5 billion to US$6.2 TRANSPORT AND MOBILITY 089
