Namibia spotlights cleaner civil aviation ambitions

Namibia is serious about its efforts to fight climate change and help the world achieve cleaner travel.

This is according to Toska Sem, the executive director of the Namibia Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), who officially opened a stakeholder capacity-building workshop on the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) on Monday.

The workshop continues at the Hotel Fürstenhof in the capital until Friday and is being organised by the NCAA in collaboration with the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the ministry of works and transport.

According to Sem, it marks “a significant milestone in our collective efforts towards sustainable aviation practices.”

She added: "Today, most states have accepted that climate change is real and is here to stay unless certain actions are taken to reduce global warming.”

For the aviation industry, CORSIA is a critical tool designed to address the carbon dioxide emissions from aeroplanes, which are projected to increase as air transport continues to grow, she said.

Global framework

Sem noted that the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has established a global framework for the long-term aspirational goal of international aviation to use sustainable aviation fuels and lower carbon aviation fuels, as well as other cleaner aviation energy sources, to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

“Namibia is committed to these global efforts,” she said, illustrating the point by highlighting local investments in renewable energy sources, the NCAA implementation of aviation system block upgrades, and rigorous flight efficiency analyses under the state action plan.

Compliance

She said the authority has a crucial role to play in implementing CORSIA through domesticating relevant international legal documents and ensuring the inspectors are properly trained to calculate emissions and verify compliance with new CO2 emission standards published by ICAO in January.

Sem highlighted the opportunities for Africa to produce sustainable aviation fuels and bio-fuels that are considered carbon neutral.

Namibia has voluntarily been participating in the pilot CORSIA project since 2018, and through Air Namibia, it has already been recording, verifying and submitting emission data to the ICAO, she pointed out.

"Currently, Fly Namibia stands as a potential qualifying air operator and efforts are ongoing to prepare them to contribute to the Namibian state,” she said.

During the workshop, participants will delve into key elements of CORSIA, including emission monitoring plans, carbon offsetting, CORSIA-eligible emission units and compliance strategies.