Rio de Janeiro – The International Air Transport Association (IATA) launched the Supporting Alliance for CORSIA EEU Supply, regrouping stakeholders across the CORSIA ecosystem in efforts to boost the availability of 225-250 million CORSIA Eligible Emissions Units (EEUs) by spring 2027. The Alliance seeks to:
- Pool the participating organizations’ resources and target bottlenecks with tailored, practical, and pragmatic implementation assistance.
- Facilitate and enable countries’ management of the interface between their Nationally Determined Contributions under the UNFCCC and the process required to make carbon credits available for use under CORSIA.
- Improve countries’ access to carbon markets and related resources.
“CORSIA is the only globally agreed framework to address international aviation emissions, established by ICAO and its Member States in 2016. States, however, have their own obligations under the Paris Agreement and the UNFCCC. Credits must be transferred between these systems to avoid double-counting, which has become an important bottleneck. The Supporting Alliance will provide implementation assistance to clear this and other bottlenecks that prevent credits from coming to the CORSIA market.
It should be noted that CORSIA will likely generate $4-5 billion of climate finance in the first phase, and potentially $100 billion by 2035, depending on market prices. This will help fund climate action, support remote communities, and spur economic development. We welcome all carbon market stakeholders and related organizations to join forces in the Supporting Alliance to help CORSIA realize its potential social, economic and climate benefits,” said Marie Owens Thomsen, IATA’s Senior Vice President Sustainability and Chief Economist.
The Alliance is open to all organizations and national governments willing to commit expertise and practical resources and to make a significant contribution to the development of CORSIA EEU supply and the robust implementation of CORSIA and Article 6.2 guidance of the Paris Agreement. The initial Alliance membership encompasses over 32 entities, including the following airlines: Air Asia, Air France-KLM, All Nippon Airways (ANA), Austrian Airlines, China Airlines, Corsair, Egyptair, IAG, Japan Airlines, KM Malta Airlines, Lufthansa Group, Pegasus Airlines, Qatar Airways, Scoot, Singapore Airlines, and SWISS.
Host Country Implementation Assistance
The host country implementation assistance will importantly involve recognized Article 6 and CORSIA experts in the Supporting Alliance and it will provide pro bono support to countries that want to authorize the use of domestic emissions units under CORSIA. This support will facilitate the process ahead of the first CORSIA compliance deadline in December 2027 and help countries manage reporting and review processes on an ongoing basis.
Assistance is provided to countries upon request and tailored to their specific needs and their progress in implementing Article 6.2 under the Paris Agreement.
About CORSIA
CORSIA is the single global market-based mechanism for international aviation emissions. It was agreed in 2016 by governments through ICAO with the express intention of avoiding overlapping or competing schemes that increase costs and complexity without improving environmental outcomes. Offsetting requirements started from 2021. Upon completion of each 3-year compliance period, operators will have to demonstrate that they have met their offsetting requirements by cancelling the appropriate number of eligible emissions units (EEUs).
Considering the special circumstances and respective capabilities of States, ICAO member States agreed to implement CORSIA offsetting requirements in phases.
- From 2021 until 2026 (pilot phase from 2021 to 2024; and first phase from 2024 to 2026), only flights between States that volunteer to participate in CORSIA are subject to offsetting requirements.
- From 2027, all international flights will be subject to offsetting requirements. However, flights to and from Least Developed Countries, Small Island Developing States, Landlocked Developing Countries, and States which represented less than 0.5% of the global international RTK in 2018 will be exempt from offsetting requirements unless these States participate on a voluntary basis.
> More on CORSIA EEUs and the Supporting Alliance
