ICAO Council adopts important environmental standard

?The ICAO Council adopted a new standard this week which will reduce civil aviation impacts on local air quality and human health.

Applicable to engine designs of rated thrust greater than 26.7 kN, the new non-volatile Particulate Matter (nvPM) mass and number engine emission standard will govern both new and in-production engines from 2023 onwards.

“Council’s adoption of this important standard was made simpler by the fact that ICAO’s 193 Member States have been in unanimous agreement on its scope and relevance,” highlighted ICAO Council President Salvatore Sciacchitano. “It demonstrates important sectoral leadership with the completion of the full suite of environmental technology standards for subsonic aircraft engines, and it will also ensure that only the latest and most effective nvPM reduction technologies are employed in post-2023 aircraft engine designs.”

Contained in Volume II to Annex 16 of the Chicago Convention (Environmental Protection), the new nvPM standard’s development was supported by a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis which took into account its technical feasibility, economic reasonableness, environmental benefits, and interdependencies with other environmental factors.

It also benefitted from the very close collaboration between the government organization and NGO experts who compose ICAO’s Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP), in addition to the ICAO Secretariat and the experts on the ICAO Air Navigation Commission.

“This substantial accomplishment reflects the deep commitment of ICAO and the civil aviation community to address the environmental impacts of international air transport,” commented ICAO Secretary General Dr. Fang Liu. “I will look forward to monitoring the nvPM standard’s contributions to UN SDG 3, on human health, and to further opportunities for ICAO and aviation to play their part in global sustainability.”

Montréal, 13 March 2020