Aviation industry’s offset plans distracts from urgent need to reduce emissions, say environmental NGOs

4th April, Brussels – As member countries of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the United Nations’ specialised aviation agency, gather in Utrecht to discuss ways to ‘offset’ emissions from the airline industry, 79 environmental NGOs from five continents are demanding that it adopts a serious plan to reduce emissions. At its assembly in September 2016, the ICAO plans to adopt measures to achieve “carbon-neutral growth” from 2020. It proposes to achieve this through carbon offsetting via a global market …