Ramping up to the 3rd ICAO Conference on Aviation and Alternative Fuels

The third ICAO Conference on Aviation and Alternative Fuels (CAAF/3) will be held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from 20 to 24 November 2023. The Conference will review the 2050 ICAO Vision for Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF), including Lower Carbon Aviation Fuels (LCAF) and other cleaner energy sources for aviation, in order to define an ICAO global framework in line with the No Country Left Behind (NCLB) initiative and taking into account national circumstances and capabilities.

In that regard, CAAF/3-WP5 provides an update on the work of ICAO on sustainability criteria and certification, and life cycle assessment of fuels and CAAF/3-WP6 presents information on the fuel accounting and reporting methodologies under the CORSIA Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) system, including the methodology to reduce an aeroplane operator’s?offsetting requirements from the use of CORSIA eligible fuels, in support of the consideration of CAAF-3 outcomes.

CORSIA recognizes CO2 emissions reductions from a wide range of aviation cleaner fuels (i.e. SAF and LCAF) by allowing an aeroplane operator to claim such CO2 emissions benefits through the reduction of its offsetting requirements, with the application of an internationally harmonized regulatory framework under ICAO for the sustainability criteria, sustainability certification, and the assessment of life cycle emissions of such fuels, in accordance with Annex 16, Volume IV and associated ICAO CORSIA documents.

As a result, batches of SAF are already being certified under CORSIA. With CORSIA being the first global market-based measure applicable to a sector, such a regulatory framework could accordingly be labelled as “global”, giving relevant stakeholders an internationally harmonized approach which provides regulatory certainty.

All the documentation for the Conference is being made available on the CAAF/3 Website.