ICAO

Overview

The International Civil Aviation Organization is an agency of the United Nations specializing in international aviation, with its headquarters located in Montreal, Canada.The legal basis of ICAO is the Convention on International

Civil Aviation (signed in 1944), also known as the Chicago Convention. ICAO develops Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) and policies for international civil aviation together with the Convention’s 191 member states and industry groups to reach consensus on a safe, efficient, secure, economically sustainable and environmentally responsible civil aviation sector (ICAO, 2018a).

The ICAO organization consists of an Assembly, a Council of limited membership with various subordinate bodies and a Secretariat. The chief officers are the President of the Council and the Secretary General. The Assembly is the sovereign body of ICAO with representatives from all Contracting States, meeting every three years. The Council is the governing body, composed of 36 states and elected by the Assembly for a three-year period.The Council work is supported and assisted by various committees.

ICAO and environment

Environmental issues are addressed through the Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP).This is a technical committee of the Council established in 1983. CAEP is composed of 23 members from all regions of the world and 16 observers. Additionally, more than 400 internationally renowned experts are involved in CAEP activities and in special working groups.

Environmental aspects of aviation are a challenge which ICAO takes very seriously. ICAO continuously develops and improves a range of standards, policies and guidance material to address aircraft noise and engine emissions, embracing technological improvements, operating procedures, proper organization of air traffic, appropriate airport and land-use planning, and the use of market-based options. For more than 40 years, ICAO has addressed environmental issues by developing new standards, guidance and policies (for an overview, see ICAO, 2016).

Traditionally, the environment-oriented activities of ICAO were based on technical analysis and then developed to standards, guidance and policies. With the Kyoto Protocol, ICAO had to fulfil a new role and new obligations concerning global climate change and emissions mitigation, a task which was and still is of high political sensitivity. For instance, the level of acceptance and acknowledgement of climate mitigation measures was not uniform around the world. Principles and criteria (like CBDR) probably appropriate for discussions on the UNFCCC level were not uniformly accepted and agreed for aviation. Last but not least, there might have been the perception that once a decision was taken for the special case of aviation at the ICAO level, it might then have influence on the complete UNFCCC process and the negotiations for a post-Kyoto agreement.