The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) said it will use the United Nations climate conference COP 31 in Antalya, Turkey, to present its work on reducing carbon emissions from civil aviation and to call for stronger cooperation on sustainable aviation.

COP 31, the 31st Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), opens on November 9 and ends on November 20, 2026, ICAO said in a statement on Wednesday.

ICAO said it handles emissions from international civil aviation, while the UNFCCC and its Paris Agreement govern domestic flight operations. Its strategic plan to 2050 envisions air transport with zero fatalities and net zero carbon emissions, and ICAO said it will focus on the path to 2050 at the conference. It said the Assembly endorsed these initiatives unanimously in October 2025.

The organisation will hold a side event titled “Accelerating Sustainable Aviation Through UN System Synergies”, which will look at the growing reach of the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), the sector’s only global market-based measure. ICAO said routes linking 134 ICAO Member States will be subject to CORSIA offsetting requirements as of next year and that it runs a programme to help states with CORSIA.

On sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), which are made from renewable or waste sources, ICAO said certified supplies more than doubled in 2025 from the year before, which it estimates cut carbon dioxide emissions by 1.1 million tonnes. It said it runs a programme to help states build the rules and financing for SAF, and that its Finvest Hub lists funding opportunities and partner networks.

ICAO also plans to present its State Action Plan initiative, in which states set out emission reduction goals and strategies. It said 155 countries, representing more than 99 percent of global air traffic, take part. A second side event later in the week will cover circular economy approaches in aviation.

ICAO said it will report all of these results to the UNFCCC Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice, as evidence that its work towards its long-term global aspirational goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050 is effective and credible. ICAO described the sector’s approach as an example of successful international governance for climate action.

Source: ICAO