ICAO has launched its new Assistance, Capacity-building, and Training for Sustainable Aviation Fuels (ACT-SAF) program. Unveiled last week in conjunction with Stockholm+50—an international meeting convened by the United Nations General Assembly held five decades after the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment—ICAO ACT-SAF is aimed at helping member states reach their full potential for SAF development and use. The global organization is encouraging participation in the program by members to increase awareness and help develop potential SAF feedstocks over the next several decades.
The importance of renewable fuels for the future of aviation and its ability to reach its aspirational carbon reduction goals was illustrated in a 2019 ICAO committee report on aviation environmental protection. It described low carbon fuels such as SAF as having the potential of contributing up to 55 percent reductions in CO2 by 2050, followed by new aircraft technologies (21 percent), and operational improvements (11 percent).
“While no one solution will fit all states and stakeholders, the importance of ICAO’s role in bringing partners together, and supporting capacity building and implementation is very clear,” said ICAO secretary general Juan Carlos Salazar. “Many states and stakeholders have recognized the need for aviation to act now, and the contributions of ACT-SAF to the objectives of Stockholm+50 will encourage important near-term synergies for global action on sustainable fuels.”