As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, demand for air travel is growing, with more than 30,000 new large aircraft expected to take to the skies in the next few years. But if we are to sustain growth in air travel without aggravating global warming, we must quickly reduce aviation-related carbon dioxide emissions, which are substantial and not covered by the Paris Agreement on the climate that more than 190 countries agreed to last December.
Fortunately, now is the perfect time to decouple aviation emissions from air travel growth. Representatives from 191 countries convened in Montreal recently for the 39th Session of the United Nations' International Civil Aviation Organization. After decades of wrangling, they have agreed to an aviation-specific climate agreement.
The new ICAO framework aims for "carbon-neutral growth" in international aviation from 2020 onward, and has as its centerpiece a global market-based measure (GMBM) to help airlines cap their net emissions at 2020 levels in an affordable way. It will be the first carbon emissions cap on a global industry that does not noticeably increase costs for consumers. And airlines will purchase emissions reductions from other economic sectors, thus funneling billions of dollars into low-carbon development.