6 May 2010: The Third Conference on International Air Transport Cooperation took place in Seoul, Republic of Korea, from 6-7 May 2010. In an opening address, Raymond Benjamin, Secretary General of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), spoke about the three components of an efficient global air transport sector: safety, security and sustainability.

Benjamin lauded the efforts of the ICAO on sustainability, noting that, in 2009, the aviation industry produced the first and, to date, only globally harmonized sectoral agreement on climate change. This agreement includes: a carbon dioxide standard for aircraft; the goal of a 2% annual increase in fuel efficiency until 2050; a framework for market-based measures within the aviation industry; and the facilitation of financial assistance, technology transfer and capacity building for developing countries. Benjamin also discussed the ICAO Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection’s (CAEP) formulation of a timetable for carbon dioxide standards to be in place by 2013, adding that member States will meet at the 37th Session of the ICAO Assembly in September of 2010 to further discuss these measures. [The Speech]