Source · Select Committees · Environmental Audit Committee
Recommendation 8
8
Accepted
Paragraph: 76
Significant potential exists for increased operational efficiencies in UK aviation to reduce CO2.
Conclusion
There is evidently significant potential for increased efficiencies across all aviation’s operations which can lead to incremental reductions in CO2 emissions across the UK aviation sector. Efficiencies from fuel use in the current and emergent fleet of aircraft, better use of airspace and reductions in emissions from airport and aviation operations will all have a significant part to play in aviation’s contribution to reaching net zero.
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the potential for increased efficiencies and details its role in securing international agreements, including ICAO's target to reduce global aviation fuel emissions by 5% by 2030 and the adoption of the CORSIA sustainability framework for SAF.
Paragraph Reference:
76
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The Government agrees with this recommendation. In November 2023 agreement was reached at ICAO’s Third Conference on Aviation Alternative Fuels (CAAF/3) on a target to reduce emissions from global aviation fuel by 5% by 2030, as part of a comprehensive framework to scale-up production and deployment of cleaner aviation fuels. The UK took a leading role in working for this agreement and intends to continue to be a global leader in aviation decarbonisation and the production and use of SAF. Importantly, the agreement enshrined the sustainability approach from the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation as the basis for determining the sustainability of SAF used in international aviation. International Civil Aviation Organization adopted the first comprehensive global approach for ensuring the sustainability of SAF, as part of CORSIA in November 2021. The CORSIA sustainability approach measures SAF against 14 environmental and socio-economic sustainability criteria. It also includes a globally agreed lifecycle analysis methodology, feedstock classification and accounts for indirect land-use change (ILUC). The approach is the product of many years of technical work in ICAO to develop an internationally agreed sustainability standard for SAF, in which the UK has played a leading role. While it is different to the standards we have in the UK, the government believes it is a comprehensive and robust basis for determining SAF sustainability internationally. It is referenced in international law under Annex 16, Volume IV of the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation. The UK continues to negotiate through ICAO groups and forums to further bolster and strengthen the CORSIA sustainability framework, to ensure global SAF production delivers genuine GHG savings and minimises the risk of other negative impacts.