IATA establishes Civil Aviation Decarbonization Organization

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) formally established the Civil Aviation Decarbonization Organization (CADO.)

This new entity was created to manage the IATA-developed Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Registry once it is released.

IATA senior vice-president for sustainability and chief economist Marie Owens Thomsen said: “CADO will turbo-charge the imminent launch of the IATA-developed SAF Registry. Its mandate is to manage the SAF Registry as a separate entity from IATA with an open and global approach that supports the scrutiny needed to build trust among all stakeholders. In fact, the door is open for any stakeholder in the SAF value chain, including governments, to join CADO. This inclusive approach should also be a force for the harmonization of the principles on which all SAF registries operate.”

IATA director-general Willie Walsh added: “The SAF Registry is a critical piece of market infrastructure that is indispensable in building a global, transparent, and liquid global market for SAF. The industry’s commitment to build the Registry and establish CADO to manage it should inspire governments, fossil fuel producers, and investors to engage in the SAF market with commensurate vigor. Ramping-up SAF production is the common goal and the structure we are putting in place with CADO is an important step in moving decarbonization forward.”

What exactly is CADO?

CADO is incorporated as a not-for-profit organization in Canada with its headquarters in Montreal. IATA is the founding member of CADO and its role in CADO will include ongoing technical support and operations. 

CADO membership is open to organisations that operate in or contribute directly to the SAF value chain, or that represent any association or group of participants in the SAF value chain; states or quasi-state organisations with a direct interest in the operations and benefit of the SAF Registry; and related interest groups indirectly benefitting from SAF deployed in the aviation system.

The SAF Registry that CADO will take charge of helps solve the challenge of limited SAF supply which is acutely scarce and available in only a few locations globally.

The Registry will do this by connecting airlines with SAF producers and suppliers, regardless of their geographical location. 

In addition, it gives access to airlines’ corporate customers to in-sector emissions reductions and capitalizes on firms’ capacity to co-finance the cost of decarbonisation.