MONTREAL — The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is praising the leadership of governments in reaching a landmark agreement on climate change at the close of the 38th Assembly of the United Nations International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

The agreement commits ICAO to developing a global market-based measure (MBM) that will be an essential enabler for the industry to achieve carbon-neutral growth from 2020 (CNG2020). A global MBM complements progress on improving technology, operations and infrastructure in the industry’s long-established four-pillar strategy to manage aviation’s climate change impact.

“Today was a great day for aviation, for the effort against climate change and for global standards and international cooperation. Industry, civil society and governments have worked hard to reach this point and keep aviation at the forefront of industries managing their climate change impact. Now we have a strong mandate and a short three-year time frame to sort out the details. Airlines need and want a global MBM. Without losing any of the momentum built up over these last two weeks, we are eager to get on with the detailed work needed to design the global scheme in time for finalization at the 2016 Assembly,” said Tony Tyler, IATA’s Director General and CEO.

This agreement will set in motion discussions on the detailed design elements of a global MBM, including standards for the monitoring, reporting and verification of emissions and the type of scheme to be implemented. In June, IATA’s 240 member airlines representing some 84% of global traffic overwhelmingly passed a resolution asking governments to develop a global mandatory carbon offsetting scheme. The industry believes that this will be the most effective and efficient MBM to implement.

“We should also recognize the important role that the European Commission and Parliament have played in raising the aviation emissions issue up the international agenda. Aviation would not be in the climate leadership position it is in today were it not for their early and persistent efforts which inspired both industry and other governments. As the EU Transport Commissioner, Siim Kallas, said, ‘The EU’s hard work has paid off’. Aviation – through the stewardship of ICAO – has achieved the first-ever global deal to curb an industry’s emissions,” said Tyler.