International Civil Aviation Organization Adopts New Targets for Sustainable Aviation Fuel Use

by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 7:05 PM ET, Mon November 27, 2023

As part of a new global framework for the transition to Sustainable Aviation Fuels, the International Civil Aviation Organization is aiming for a 5 percent reduction in carbon intensity by 2030.

The new framework was announced as part of the Third Conference on Aviation Alternative Fuels (CAAF/3), which was hosted by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in Dubai.

About 100 states agreed to the carbon intensity reduction that’s part of the new framework, according to a press release issued by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

“The CAAF/3 results add a vision on the shorter, 2030, time horizon that is ambitious. To that end, the CAAF/3 agreement signals to the world in no uncertain terms the need for policies that enable real progress. There is no time to lose,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s director general, said in a statement.

The goal is that aviation fuel in 2030 is 5% less carbon intensive than fossil fuel used today by the industry, said the IATA press release.

The CAAF/3 conference also resulted in agreements among participants on a variety of sustainable aviation fuel-related issues, including:

Acknowledging that certain states have the capacity to progress at a faster pace in the transition to SAF and that others do not.
Capacity building, a “Finvest Hub,”and voluntary technology transfer, are all among the measures put forward to ensure that all countries have equal ability to participate in a global SAF market.
The need for a solution that can foster a global SAF market while enabling airlines to claim the environmental attributes of their SAF purchases against their decarbonization obligations, based on a global and robust SAF accounting framework.

Walsh said that IATA now expects governments to “urgently put the strongest possible policies in place to unlock the full potential of a global SAF market with an exponential increase in production.”

The organization said demand from airlines for SAF (in line with their commitment to net zero carbon emissions by 2050), vastly exceeds the availability of such fuels today.

Supply in 2023, for instance, was limited to 0.2% of airlines’ jet fuel consumption, according to IATA.

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) meanwhile, issued its own statement this week, applauding the goal of reaching 5% carbon intensity reductions by 2030.

“WTTC welcomes the adoption of a new ICAO global framework for Sustainable Aviation Fuels, announced at the third Conference on Aviation and Alternative Fuels (CAAF/3) conference in Dubai, which saw 100 states agree to a 5% carbon intensity reduction by 2030,” Julia Simpson, WTTC president and CEO, said in a statement. “This important agreement is critical to delivering ICAO’s Long Term Aspirational Goal of net zero carbon emission by 2050.