OTTAWA, ONTARIO
JUNE 4, 2012
Thank you and welcome everyone.
It is an honour for me to be with you today on behalf of our Prime Minister, Stephen Harper.
I am pleased to be joined by my colleague, Canada's Environment and Parks Minister Peter Kent, as well as my esteemed colleagues in Canada's aviation industry. Thank you for joining me today for this important announcement.
I am very pleased to be here today to announce Canada's Action Plan to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Aviation.
This Action Plan is part of the Government of Canada's commitment to taking action on air pollutants and climate change to protect the environment and the health of Canadians.
The Action Plan is also Canada's response to the International Civil Aviation Organization's resolution on climate change. This resolution, adopted in October 2010, set voluntary goals for international aviation emissions and encouraged member states to submit national action plans by June 2012 outlining their respective policies and actions to address aviation emissions.
Canada's Action Plan builds on the success of the world's first voluntary Memorandum of Understanding to reduce aviation emissions, signed between Transport Canada and Canadian airlines in 2005.
Under this Memorandum of Understanding, Canada's aviation industry surpassed the original objectives of improving fuel efficiency and was able to show a 31 per cent cumulative improvement from 1990 levels.
The Action Plan I am announcing today goes beyond previous efforts to address emissions from aviation. It does so by bringing together the collaborative efforts of different parts of the aviation industry, from airlines and airports, to air navigation service providers and aircraft manufacturers, in order to effectively address emissions from the sector.
The Action Plan is in line with the International Civil Aviation Organization's goals. It sets a goal to improve fuel efficiency further ─ by at least 2 per cent per year until 2020. Through its efforts, Canada's aviation sector also supports the global aspirational goals for international aviation of carbon neutral growth from 2020 onwards, and absolute greenhouse gas emission reductions by 2050.
To help achieve the 2 per cent fuel efficiency goal, the Action Plan identifies three key measures that are expected to have the greatest environmental impact:
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fleet renewals and upgrades;
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more efficient air operations; and
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improved capabilities in air traffic management.
The Action Plan also includes additional measures that will contribute to achieving emission reductions, such as alternative aviation fuels, and airport ground operations and infrastructure use.
Progress towards meeting the goals and other initiatives in the Action Plan will be reported annually.
Canada continues to support the role of the International Civil Aviation Organization as the appropriate forum to address issues related to emissions from international aviation.
To conclude, I would like to thank our many partners in the aviation industry for their collaborative efforts in helping to develop Canada's Action Plan to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Aviation.
Together, in implementing the Plan, we will continue to reduce emissions in the aviation sector thereby contributing to Canada's overall climate-change goals.
Thank you.
