Understanding the CORSIA Package

The International Coalition for Sustainable Aviation (ICSA) evaluates the 'CORSIA Package,' which includes Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) for the global aviation carbon offsetting scheme. While acknowledging the technical soundness of much of the package, ICSA argues that current provisions for reporting transparency, emissions unit eligibility, and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) sustainability criteria are insufficient. The document recommends that ICAO expand sustainability criteria to include social and economic attributes, improve third-party access to emissions reports, and refine life cycle assessment (LCA) values for waste-based feedstocks to prevent environmental harm and double counting.

• CORSIA reporting lacks sufficient transparency because data becomes more aggregated as it moves from operators to States and then to ICAO, which hinders the ability to verify compliance.
• To maintain program integrity, the final CORSIA Package must explicitly mandate that only emissions units meeting the specific CORSIA Emissions Unit Eligibility Criteria are accepted, preventing States from applying criteria unilaterally.
• The current sustainability criteria for aviation alternative fuels are too narrow, focusing primarily on emissions and land conversion, and must be expanded to include social, economic, and broader environmental attributes to align with UN Sustainable Development Goals.
• Default life cycle assessment (LCA) values for fuels derived from wastes, residues, and by-products—such as palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD)—should be revisited because they currently ignore indirect emissions caused by diverting these materials from other markets.
• The existing monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) system for sustainable aviation fuels is inadequate for handling high volumes of fuel and risks allowing double claiming of emissions reductions.
• Improper cancellation of emissions units poses a significant risk of double use, which would undermine the effectiveness of the entire scheme.
• To prevent double claiming between aeroplane operators and host countries, ICAO should require offset programs to ensure host countries add corresponding emissions back into their national account balances for every ton transferred to CORSIA.

APA

Carbon Market Watch (n.d.). Understanding the CORSIA Package. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/ICSA-Report_A4.pdf

Chicago

Carbon Market Watch. Understanding the CORSIA Package. n.d. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/ICSA-Report_A4.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Carbon Market Watch |title=Understanding the CORSIA Package |url=https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/ICSA-Report_A4.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{carbonmarketwatchndunderstanding, author = {{Carbon Market Watch}}, title = {{Understanding the CORSIA Package}}, institution = {Carbon Market Watch}, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/ICSA-Report_A4.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }