Seychelles submits notification to participate in CORSIA |03 November 2022
Seychelles submitted its notification to participate voluntarily and support the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme in International Aviation (CORSIA).
It made Seychelles the 117th State to make this commitment in support of the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) climate work.
The notification was submitted during a short ceremony on the sidelines of ICAO’s 41st general assembly by the chief executive of the Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA), Garry Albert, to the secretary general of ICAO, Dr Juan Carlos Salazar.
“SCAA is fully committed to environmental protection endeavours being put forward by ICAO. As a small island developing state, we are mindful of the impact of climate change on the livelihood of our people. The development of the aviation sector should be sustainable, and we support initiatives to achieve this. Our voluntary participation in CORSIA is important as it earns us priority status when it comes to various opportunities to build our capacity so that we too can transform our aviation industry into a green and sustainable one,” said CEO Albert after the short ceremony.
CORSIA is a programme whereby states submit annual CO2 emissions data to ICAO. This data calculates the global emissions level and determines the amount that needs to be offset. Offsetting CO2 emissions is being implemented by planting trees and investing in sustainable projects globally.
At the end of the 41st ICAO general assembly, it was highlighted that countries had achieved some tremendous and significant progress on the completion of the first periodic review of CORSIA, including the new emission baseline from 2024 onwards, defined as 85% of CO2 emissions in 2019, and on revised percentages for the sectoral and individual growth factors to be used for the calculation of offsetting requirements from 2030 onwards.
The flagship carrier of Seychelles, Air Seychelles, submits its CO2 emissions data to SCAA annually. This data is verified through a State Order Magnitude check before it is submitted to ICAO. Note that this scheme only applies to carriers that undertake international operations.
CORSIA is only one action in a basket of measures to achieve the industry’s commitment to net zero emissions by 2050, which aligns with the 2015 Paris Agreement and the SDGs. It is noted that the aviation industry, through the ICAO, is the first to take essential steps to address climate change issues.
Seychelles is now one of 25 small island developing states (Sids) that has confirmed its participation in CORSIA as from January 2023. Other Sids participating in CORSIA include Maldives, Jamaica, Guyana, and Kiribati, among other Caribbean and Pacific islands.
ICAO noted that voluntary participation on the part of Sids across the globe echoes the grave concerns on the impact of climate change, particularly on the most vulnerable countries, in a bid to motivate the significant contributors to act.
Press release from SCAA
