News
Securing Aviation’s Future -
Environment and Safety Top Priorities
Montreal – The International Air Transport Association (IATA)
reiterated its call for a global sectoral approach for aviation and
climate change under the leadership of the International Civil Aviation
Organization (ICAO). The call was made by Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s
Director General and CEO in the sixth annual Dr. Assad Kotaite Lecture
hosted by the Royal Aeronautical Society in Montreal.
As governments prepare to gather in Copenhagen for talks
on climate change, Bisignani identified environmental responsibility as a
top priority for aviation, alongside safety and security. The aviation
industry is globally united with a commitment to stabilize emissions with
carbon neutral growth from 2020 and a 50% net reduction in carbon
emissions by 2050.
“Aviation is a global industry that moves with global
standards. Our commitment to reducing emissions includes all the value
chain—manufacturers, airports, air navigation service providers and
airlines—and crosses all geographies. Because our businesses operate
across borders, aviation has a unique track record of finding global
solutions to even the most difficult issues. For example, under ICAO’s
leadership, we found a solution to noise that accommodated the needs of
developed and developing nations. We are a model for industry-government
cooperation within the United Nations framework. Aviation will be the
only industry bringing a global solution to Copenhagen,” said Bisignani.
A global sectoral approach would account for aviation’s
carbon emissions at a global level as an industrial sector, not by state.
This would ensure that aviation is fully accountable for its emissions,
and through access to global carbon markets would pay for its emissions
once, not several times over.
Cooperation between industry and government to secure
aviation’s future was the theme of Bisignani’s remarks which focused on
long-term strategic industry issues. “Flying is the safest way to travel
precisely because of industry cooperation with governments though ICAO,”
said Bisignani.
Improvements in safety must be data-driven. IATA is launching
a Global Safety Information Center to house IATA safety information in a
single online database. Bisignani supported ICAO Secretary-General
Raymond Benjamin’s call for even greater sharing of safety data. “To make
a safe industry even safer we must cooperate and share data. The upcoming
ICAO high level meeting on safety (March 2010) will be a great
opportunity to take this forward with concrete plans to amalgamate safety
data from audits and inspections conducted by ICAO, FAA, EASA and IATA to
improve safety by identifying trends and potential hazards,” said
Bisignani.
Bisignani also paid tribute to Dr. Kotaite, who previously
held the ICAO posts of Secretary General and President of the Council. “I
am reminded of the great leadership role played by my friend Dr. Kotaite
in a career that spanned over half a century. He was fundamental in
bringing people together to build ICAO into the respected institution
that it is today. Within the ICAO framework, governments and industry
chose to cooperate. They built this great industry on global standards
and set a successful precedent to continue addressing important issues
such as safety and environment,” said Bisignani.
View full text of Giovanni Bisignani’s lecture
-IATA-
Contact:
Anthony Concil
Director Corporate Communications
Tel: +41 22 770 2967
Email: corpcomms@iata.org
Notes for Editors:
- IATA
(International Air Transport Association) represents some 230
airlines comprising 93% of scheduled international air traffic.
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