Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) is an emission mitigation approach for the global airline industry, developed by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and adopted in October 2016. Measures include primarily offsets and “alternative” fuels.
The goal of CORSIA is to address any annual increase in total CO2 emissions from international civil aviation (i.e. civil aviation flights that depart in one country and arrive in a different country) above 2020 levels, taking into account special circumstances and respective capabilities. Emissions from domestic air travel are not included in CORSIA. ICAO states that “Emissions from domestic aviation, as other domestic sources, are addressed under the UNFCCC and calculated as part of the national Greenhouse Gas (GHG) inventories and are included in national totals
Member states have identified “administrative simplicity”, “environmental integrity” and “cost effectiveness” as three most important considerations for the design element in CORSIA
It is forecast that CORSIA will mitigate around 2.5 billion tonnes of CO2 and generate over USD 40 billion in climate finance between 2021 and 2035
As a global scheme, CORSIA will result in a greater CO2 mitigation in international aviation. It is forecast that CORSIA will mitigate around 2.5 billion tonnes of CO2 between 2021 and 2035, which is an annual average of 164 million tonnes of CO2. This represents an investment of about USD40 billion in climate projects (assuming that the price of carbon will increase from USD8 in 2021 to USD20 in 2035).
CORSIA has three implementation phases, beginning 2021. Participation of countries until 2026 is voluntary. As of January 2018, more than 70 countries representing more than 85% of international aviation activity have volunteered to participate.