The ATAG Member Briefing

2025 ICAO Assembly

The 42nd session of the ICAO Triennial Assembly took place in September / October 2025, in Montreal. Both Haldane Dodd and Felix Eggert were present, to provide support and coordination among industry participants. 

Discussions reinforced the global commitment to ICAO’s long-term aspirational goal for international aviation of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and for CORSIA as the single global market-based measure for aviation emissions. In contrast to the last few Assemblies, climate change and the environment were one of the less controversial topics this year.

ATAG submitted two papers for consideration by the Assembly:

• A Working Paper on Industry views on aviation climate action. The paper reaffirmed the air transport industry’s support for the ICAO long-term aspirational goal, CORSIA, the outcome of CAAF/3 and the work of ICAO to support continued progress towards these climate goals. The paper gained support from a number of States, including Canada, France, Italy, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and others.
• An Information Paper on Aviation’s contribution towards the United Nations 2030 agenda for sustainable development. This was a joint paper on behalf of ATAG, ACI, ASA, CANSO, IBAC, ICCAIA and IFALPA. Drawing on the 2024 ATAG report Aviation: Benefits Beyond Borders, the paper outlined aviation’s role in driving global socio-economic growth and supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals. It emphasised the need for continued collaboration between industry, governments and international institutions to maximise aviation’s development impact and ensure sustainable growth.

ATAG also intervened during the session on the economic development of air transport, when discussions arose on two items that are being discussed outside of the ICAO structure: the corporate tax rate on aviation ticket sales and the Global Solidarity Levies Task Force. Haldane’s remarks on these discussions reinforced the need to focus on CORSIA as the only market-based measure agreed by States for aviation and to ensure that enough CORSIA-eligible emissions units are available.

For more information, including Haldane’s remarks, please download the ATAG report on the ICAO Assembly/42 (for the aviation industry only - not for circulation).