Visibility Unlimited: TRANSPARENCY OF THE NEW AVIATION CARBON MARKET

The document examines the lack of transparency in the ICAO's creation of the CORSIA offsetting scheme, highlighting risks to the Paris Agreement and the EU ETS. It argues that ICAO's current practice of closed meetings and non-disclosure agreements contradicts its own rules of procedure and the obligations of 13 member states under the Aarhus Convention. The brief recommends broadening observer diversity, opening meetings to the public, and providing access to key regulatory documents to ensure the environmental integrity of aviation carbon offsets.

• CORSIA is the only significant international carbon offsetting scheme for the 2021–2035 period, but it is estimated to address less than one-third of the aviation sector's total expected emissions by 2030.
• The environmental integrity of CORSIA depends on accounting rules that prevent double counting of emission reductions between the aviation sector and national climate targets under the Paris Agreement.
• Current ICAO offset quality criteria are criticized as too vague, as they may allow ineffective carbon offsets or outdated technologies like supercritical coal.
• Despite ICAO's general rules of procedure stating that committee meetings should normally be open to the public, the Committee on Aviation and Environmental Protection (CAEP) and its sub-groups operate in closed sessions.
• Civil society participation is restricted; NGOs are limited to a single representative in some meetings and must sign non-disclosure agreements that prevent them from sharing information with the public.
• Thirteen ICAO member states participating in the Council and CAEP are signatories to the Aarhus Convention, which obliges them to provide access to information and public participation in environmental decision-making.
• Implementing CORSIA through the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) could decrease European climate ambition because the ICAO target is less stringent than the EU ETS target for airlines.

APA

Carbon Market Watch (2017). Visibility Unlimited: TRANSPARENCY OF THE NEW AVIATION CARBON MARKET. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Policy-brief.pdf

Chicago

Carbon Market Watch. Visibility Unlimited: TRANSPARENCY OF THE NEW AVIATION CARBON MARKET. 2017. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Policy-brief.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Carbon Market Watch |title=Visibility Unlimited: TRANSPARENCY OF THE NEW AVIATION CARBON MARKET |date=November 2017 |url=https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Policy-brief.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{carbonmarketwatch2017visibility, author = {{Carbon Market Watch}}, title = {{Visibility Unlimited: TRANSPARENCY OF THE NEW AVIATION CARBON MARKET}}, institution = {Carbon Market Watch}, year = {2017}, month = nov, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Policy-brief.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }