ICAO promotes SAF investment platform with development banks
The International Civil Aviation Organization Secretary General Juan Carlos Salazar met with senior representatives from multilateral development banks and other high-level officials in Washington, D.C., Oct. 24-25.
The discussions, held alongside the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund annual meetings, centered on leveraging ICAO’s Finvest Hub to support sustainable aviation investments.
ICAO’s Finvest Hub was spotlighted as a pivotal platform to connect decarbonization projects with public and private investors, enhancing funding opportunities for sustainable aviation initiatives, particularly in developing states.
The meetings addressed critical challenges in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) development, including limited current production volumes, higher costs compared to conventional jet fuel, and the absence of production and supply chains in many developing regions.
According to ICAO’s long-term global aspirational goal (LTAG) report, approximately USD$3.2 billion is required by 2050 to scale up SAF, underscoring the importance of creating funding pathways through collaboration with development banks and other financial institutions.
Annie Petsonk, the assistant secretary for aviation and international affairs at the U.S. Department of Transportation, provided a keynote address during the roundtable and reaffirmed U.S. support for outcomes from the November 2023 Third Conference on Aviation Alternative Fuel (CAAF/3), which established the 2030 vision and global framework for cleaner aviation fuels and sustainable aviation financing.
Additionally, Salazar met with Nerissa Cook, the U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs, to discuss ICAO’s ongoing transformation efforts aimed at creating a more adaptive and collaborative organization demonstrating operational excellence.
During his visit, Salazar also held individual meetings with high-level representatives of the World Bank Group, the International Monetary Fund, the European Investment Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, as well as Airlines for America.
Salazar was accompanied during this mission and meetings by Michael Gill, ICAO’s legal affairs and external relations director.
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