CO2 Emissions from air transport
A near-real-time global database for policy analysis
By moving goods and people over large distances, air transport facilitates international
trade and tourism and thus contributes to economic growth and job creation. At the
same time, it also comes with environmental challenges, largely related to air emissions
and their impact on global warming. Air transport has been disproportionately negatively
affected by the COVID-19 pandemic with associated reductions in air emissions. However,
recent projections show that, in the absence of accelerated technological developments
and more ambitious policy measures, aviation-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions
will grow again at a rapid pace after the pandemic. This paper describes a new OECD
database providing near-real-time and global information on aviation-related CO2 emissions,
with allocations across countries following either the territory or the residence
principle. This database provides a public good for both statistical measurement and
environmental policy analysis. On the statistical front, it will facilitate the compilation
of global Air Emission Accounts according to the System of Environmental Economic
Accounting (SEEA), bring granular and timely information on a significant source of
CO2 emissions, and allow tracking their evolution during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The comparison with official statistics that are available with a significant delay
and at lower frequency demonstrates the accuracy of the OECD estimates. On the environmental
policy front, it is expected that the OECD database will help monitor the impact of
technological developments and policy measures to curb aviation-related CO2 emissions
in the future.
Published on March 08, 2022
In series:OECD Statistics Working Papersview more titles