The International Air Transport Association (IATA) Director General and CEO, Giovanni Bisignani emphasized the importance of cooperation with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to ensure that air transport continues to improve safety and environmental performance, and achieves financial sustainability. “As the global recession continues to take its toll on the aviation industry, we also face challenges on many of the industry's fundamental priorities - including safety and environment. The need for industry and government cooperation to address these has never been greater,” said Bisignani in remarks to a gathering of ICAO state representatives and Raymond Benjamin, ICAO's secretary general. Bisignani noted environment as a priority for the two global organizations. “Aviation needs a global sectoral approach to address aviation's emissions under ICAO leadership. This was the vision of Kyoto. And it must be retained when the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change meets in Copenhagen this December.” In preparation for Copenhagen, ICAO will host a high level meeting on International Aviation and Climate Change in Montreal on Oct. 7- 9, 2009. “IATA is ready to do whatever is necessary to support a successful outcome in Montreal that bridges ICAO's principle of universality with the common but differentiated responsibility approach of the UNFCCC,” said Bisignani. “Air transport is the first global industry to commit to carbon neutral growth. And we have done it with an aggressive timeline of 2020. Our success depends on governments moving forward to implement more effective air traffic management, create the legal and fiscal framework to support the development of sustainable biofuels for aviation and fuel efficiency.”
