CAA to ground Aircraft with excess carbon emissions

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) will soon start grounding all air crafts with excess carbon emissions that land at any airport within the country, the Managing Director CAA David Mpango Kakuba has said.

Civil Aviation Authority Managing Director David Mpango Kakuba says CAA will start implementing the directive in January 2020. He was speaking in a meeting with journalists in Entebbe Municipality today.

The decision is in line with the Aircraft Carbon Emissions Standards adopted by the International Civil Aviation Organisation -ICAO in March 2017. The standards are aimed at reducing the impact of aviation Greenhouse Gas Emissions in line with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

The International Civil Aviation Organisation that sets standards for subsidiary aviation authorities in all partner countries sets carbon emissions at not more than 5700 kilograms for every aircraft a year.

The Standard will apply to new aircraft type designs from 2020 and to aircraft type designs already in-production as of 2023. Those in-production aircraft which by 2028 do not meet the standard will no longer be able to be produced unless their designs are sufficiently modified.

“International civil aviation Organisation has once again taken pioneering action to address the impact of aviation carbon emissions on the global climate,” stressed ICAO Council President Dr Olumuyiwa Bernard Aliu.

The directive is in Line with countries efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and foster conservation, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks, an arrangement also known as REDD+.

Kakuba requested the Ministry of water to share ideas on how to reduce the emissions adding that currently, only Kenya Aviation Authority has the expertise to determine increased carbon emissions. He says that Uganda and its neighboring countries will tap into the knowledge of their Kenyan counterparts to easily implement the directive.

Ronald Barongo, the Director Safety, Security and Economic Regulation at the Civil Aviation Authority says whereas CAA will implement the directive, there is limited time to adopt the use of aircraft’s that emit limited carbon.

CAA receives up to 26,886 aircraft movement annually with 52,841 tons and up to 1,620,000 passengers according to CAA statistics of 2017. However, Ronald Barongo could not establish how many crafts that jet into the country with excess carbon emissions.

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URN