MONTRÉAL, 24 September 2013 – The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the European Commission (EC) signed a Declaration of Intent this evening affirming their collaboration on assistance and capacity building activities to support measures to mitigate CO2 emissions from international aviation.
This Declaration was signed by the European Commission Vice-President Siim Kallas and the ICAO Secretary-General Raymond Benjamin during a special ceremony on the first day of the 38th Session of the ICAO Assembly. The EC intends to commit financial support of EUR 6.5 million towards environmental action being undertaken by States in the African and Caribbean regions.
A timeline through 2016 has been envisaged to realize this joint ICAO/EC capacity building initiative, with expectations on all sides to consider how these efforts could be expanded to other States and regions in the future.
“ICAO welcomes the EC support in providing resources for action to address climate change through ICAO” remarked ICAO Secretary General, Raymond Benjamin. “This is a big step towards meeting the expectations of ICAO Member States in the African and Caribbean regions that expressed their need for technical and financial assistance to undertake mitigation actions”.
