Transport secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan called for international action to decarbonise aviation at the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) assembly in Montreal on Wednesday.
Trevelyan urged the adoption of a long-term goal in line with the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, noting the aviation and maritime sectors “weren’t part of the process” in 2015.
She pointed out aviation is “one of the fastest growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions” and called on the representatives of 193 countries at the assembly to act.
Speaking ahead of the assembly’s official opening, Trevelyan told Travel Weekly: “The UK wants to lead on this and get to grips with it in a global way.
“Those of us with the resources need to move at the pace we can and other countries will follow.”
The ICAO assembly is tasked with setting a Long-Term Aspirational Goal (LTAG) to reduce aviation’s carbon emissions and a baseline for ICAO’s Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (Corsia) from 2024.
Trevelyan said: “I hope we’re able to land a good baseline. We’re pushing to get that. Discussions are ongoing, but I think we’re going to land on somewhere around 85% of the 2019 level [of international aviation emissions].”
Growth in carbon admissions above that baseline would need to be offset. However, 2019 was a record year for air travel and aviation emissions.
Trevelyan insisted: “We want something that is realistic. We need a starting point that everyone can start from. Governments can then set agendas knowing they are working with their neighbours.”
She told Travel Weekly: “Nothing is perfect. What we want is a baseline from which we can move forward. Let’s not let perfection be the enemy of good.”
The transport secretary added: “I genuinely believe the aviation industry will transition to being part of the solution not part of the problem.
“[But] the reality is we need to crack on. There is a huge amount to do. It’s not only about reaching net zero by 2050 but helping those countries which are going to be most affected [by the climate crisis].”
Earlier in the week, Trevelyan led a meeting of the International Aviation Climate Ambition Coalition which is pushing for “ambitious action” at ICAO.
The coalition, launched by the UK at the COP26 meeting in Glasgow last year, now numbers 56 states. Its members have committed to promoting new aviation fuels and technologies whatever ICAO decides.
Trevelyan said the coalition aims to have “56 nations helping the private sector invest in new technology”.
She argued: “This won’t work if we do it on our own, it has to be done as a coalition. Everything in an international forum is about working in a coalition.”
Trevelyan insisted the government had already “set a number of key planks in place” on the road to aviation decarbonisation.
The government published a Jet Zero strategy in July setting out how UK aviation could achieve ‘net zero’ carbon emissions by 2050.
It has also committed to introduce a sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) ‘mandate’ from 2025, requiring at least 10% of jet fuel be produced from sustainable sources by 2030.
Trevelyan was due to tell the ICAO assembly: “Failure here puts the future of aviation at risk. We cannot ignore the threat that rising temperatures pose to our planet.”
The transport secretary was also due to highlight the need for international agreement on the lessons of the Covid-19 pandemic and action to ensure the aviation sector is better prepared for future threats.
She told Travel Weekly: “The question of resilience is critically important.
“We’re meeting to think how ICAO could harness the lessons learned [from the pandemic] – what we did right and what we could do better. We want set out some clear guidelines.”
Trevelyan took over from Grant Shapps as transport secretary after Liz Truss was confirmed as prime minister earlier this month.