Governments will soon begin notifying airlines of their first-ever carbon offsetting requirements under the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), following ICAO’s release late last week of a new calculation for 2024.
ICAO said it has now calculated international aviation’s growth for 2024, allowing states to determine how much CO₂ each airline must offset in order to keep that growth carbon neutral. Governments will apply a growth factor released last week to airline emissions data to compute obligations in line with requirements under the Convention on International Civil Aviation.
Airlines can typically satisfy CORSIA offsetting obligations by purchasing ICAO-approved carbon credits. These often come in the form of verified emissions-reduction units from projects focused on methane capture, renewable energy, or forest protection, among others. These usually come through emissions unit programs recognized as eligible for CORSIA compliance.
ICAO said data covering 99% of 2024 CO₂ emissions was submitted by 128 states, with emissions for 10 additional states estimated through an agreed process, for a total of 138 states used in the global growth calculation.
