Aviation industry representatives at a previous meeting of the United Nations Aviation Environmental Protection Committee (CAEP) have surpassed 10 to 1 from Green Group, the analysis found.
Other recent conferences held by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the parent organization of CAEP, were sponsored by large fossil fuel companies and airlines, including Saudi Aramco and Etihad. Critics have accused ICAO of being captured by the industry, resulting in slower efforts to tackle the climate crisis by reducing carbon emissions from aircraft.
The next meeting for CAEP will begin on Monday, but there is no public information about its agenda or people holding the meeting. ICAO has been criticized for its lack of transparency, which is a sharp contrast to, for example, the United Nations’ climatic body.
ICAO does not make meeting documents freely available on a regular basis and instead charges hundreds of dollars for password-protected copies. Neither the media nor the public can attend the CAEP meeting, and observer representatives must sign a private agreement with “unlimited financial liability.”
Flights cause climate-accumulating pollution per kilometre than any other form of transport, dominated by rich passengers, with 1% of the world’s population responsible for 50% of air emissions. The industry’s climate plan is rated “very inadequate” by Climate Action Tracker.
ICAO expects passenger numbers to double by 2042, and the industry claims that more efficient aircraft, sustainable fuels and ICAO offset schemes can control carbon emissions.
Independent experts say that the viable scale of such measures is very unlikely to compensate for such large-scale traffic growth. For example, the “ambitious and problematic” offset scheme has stagnated fuel efficiency improvements as airlines still do not require carbon credit. Experts say aviation growth must be curbed if climate targets are met.
Lucca Ewbank, transport lead at InfluenceMap, says he is Think-Tank, who analyzed the delegation’s data. interest.
“The lack of transparency also favors the industry, which personally affects climate negotiations and can boost vested interests without external scrutiny. The industry has a major impact on environmental negotiations at ICAO. It appears to be, and the result is rules that serve the interests of airlines at the expense of climate action that suits science.”
Certain technical information about aircraft discussed in the CAEP may be commercially sensitive, a representative told the Guardian, but the secret should not be “general rules that govern everything.”
ICAO did not respond to requests for comment.
The large CAEP conference took place every three years, with 439 representatives taking part in previous events in 2022. Analysis by Influenco Map showed that 125 people (29%) were from the aviation industry. . The latter included representatives of Saudi Arabia Aramco, the United Arab Emirates national oil company ADNOC, and its two national airlines, Etihad Airways and Emirates, and Japan Airlines.
The International Coordination Council of the Aerospace Industry Association, representing the manufacturer, provided the most industry representatives to 62, followed by the Airport Council International (28) and the International Business Aviation Council (10). .
There were only 11 representatives from the environmental groups. In contrast, at the UN COP29 Climate Summit, only 1.5% of attendees came from the fossil fuel industry or lobbyists.
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Also, unlike the UN Climate Summit, recent ICAO events are sponsored by industry companies. ICAO’s “stock event” on air emission reductions in October 2024 was sponsored by Exxonmobil, Shell Aviation, Airbus and the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the leading trade agency for airlines.
Another ICAO event on air and alternative fuels held in Dubai in November 2023 was sponsored by ADNOC, Etihad, Air Arabia, Boeing, and Shell Airlines, Airbus and IATA.
InferenceMap analysis has linked industry figures to influential positions. Kevin Walsh, now vice-president of Trade Body Airlines for America, was listed as vice-chairman of the upcoming CAEP conference in the 2022 CAEP conference report. In 2022 he was part of the US delegation and worked for the Federal Aviation Administration.
CAEP has 11 working groups, and their membership is not publicly available. However, an analysis of the LinkedIn profile showed industry personnel in these groups. Saudi Aramco was one of the ADNOCs, and United Airlines was also represented by the working group. The industry trade agency staff also participated in working groups, including the Airport Council’s International and part of the IATA.
A report from the 2022 conference highlights the need for this, and therefore there is a demand for greater transparency. Another representative also said that “transparency is the lifeblood of effective governance,” focusing on “improving access, expanding participation, ensuring accountability.”
The US delegation publicly calls for greater transparency in 2022, saying that it “will improve accountability (of CAEP) to the public who are trying to serve,” while other UN groups say He said that all papers have been published for the decision meeting before. It appears that no paper has been published before CAEP speaks next week.
You can contact Damian Carrington via email, Signal (DPCarrington.35) or securely via this link.
