The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has welcomed the Copenhagen Accord as an “important step in the right direction” for climate change.

IATA said the fact that aviation emissions were not addressed specifically in the accord, is a “reflection of the pro-active measures the industry has taken to set challenging targets for itself, together with an aggressive strategy to achieve them.”

The industry body also pledged to continue working towards meeting these goals which include: Improving fuel efficiency by an average of 1.5 per cent per year to 2020; stabilising carbon emissions from 2020 with carbon-neutral growth; and achieving a net reduction in carbon emissions of 50 per cent by 2050 compared to 2005.

“We came to Copenhagen to be part of the deal and we were encouraged by the level of support for the industry’s global sectoral approach and targets. We will continue to press states to include these global targets in any future deal,” said IATA director general and CEO Giovanni Bisignani.

“We also found consensus among the delegations that a global sectoral approach should be established for aviation emissions by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the UN’s specialised agency for aviation.” Bisignani said IATA would work closely with ICAO to prepare a global framework for managing aviation’s emissions for the ICAO Assembly to consider in September 2010.

“In the meantime we continue to urge governments to avoid creating a patchwork of national and regional solutions and to ensure aviation’s emissions are dealt with as a sector and across the world. A global sectoral approach supported by tough targets is the only sensible way forward for a global industry,” the IATA chief added.