ICAO – International Civil Aviation Organization

Abstract

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) was established by the Convention on International Civil Aviation signed in Chicago on 7 December 1944, known as the Chicago Convention. The ICAO has dealt with environmental issues since the 1960s, when the growing number of jet aircraft caused severe noise problems for the people in the vicinity of the airports, and in the early 1970s the first ICAO noise standards were established. The environmental impact of international aviation exhaust emissions came later into the focus of the ICAO: it was in the year 1981 that ICAO Standards were adopted setting limits for the emission of smoke and gaseous pollutants from aircraft engines. The environment issue reveals once again the conflict over values and methods between the more technically oriented and in economic terms neo-liberally minded specialized agencies and the UN funds representing a stronger value orientation in terms of common responsibility and solidarity. Keywords: international air navigation; International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO); UN