On 26February 2014, within the 201st Session of the ICAO Council was held a meeting of the Technical Co-Operation Committee Ad Hoc Working Group On Technical Cooperation Programme Development . The group in addition to the Chairman of the Technical Co-operation Committee consists of permanent representatives of Spain, Venezuela, Burkina Faso, Portugal, Brazil and Poland.
The group has been formed as a result of a decision taken at a joint meeting of the Technical Co-operation Committee and the Finance Committee on 24 January 2014. Creating a group in response to the expression by several council members including Dr. Małgorzata Polkowska need to examine thei mpact of the Technical Co-operation Programme in global civil aviation and whether identified deficiencies and significant safety and security concerns are being met.
The group’s responsibilities are to optimize the performance and implementation of projects under the Technical Co-operation Bureau (TCB ) in order to strengthen the strategic objectives of ICAO, to make recommendations in respect of key performance indicators (KPIs) and recommendations for the Customer satisfaction surveys by an external party. During the meeting, the group members discussed matters related to their activities. According to the time framework, the Ad Hoc Working Group shall complete its work not later than 21 March 2014 and report to the Technical Co-operation Committee during the 202nd of the Council.
On February 28, was held the third meeting of the Council. During the meeting, there were presented issues concerning the environment. Members of the Council discussed the decisions and resolutions adopted during the 38th Session of the ICAO Assembly. The proposed actions arising from Resolution primarily constitute a continuation of ICAO's technical work in the area of environmental protection focusing on noise and local air quality issues. The other resolution provides the Organization with an ambitious work programme on international aviation and climate change for the next triennium, in which five key areas of work requested by the Assembly are identified: 1) global aspirational goals, 2) States' action plans, 3) assistance to States, 4) market-based measures (MBMs), and 5) sustainable alternative fuels for aviation. In addition, the members was familiarized with the report describing recent development in the field of environmental protection of other United Nations bodies and international organizations. The report has provided the information on the outcome of the 19th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP19) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), held in conjunction with the 9th session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP9), from 11 to 23 November 2013 in Warsaw, Poland. The conference also included the 39th session of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA39), and the second session of the Ad-hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP2).
The Warsaw conference adopted a series of decisions, including the acceleration of the work of the ADP towards the adoption, by 2015, of a legally-binding agreement on climate change and invited all Parties to initiate or intensify domestic preparations for their intended nationally determined contributions, in the context of the 2015 agreement.
The Council agreed that the Environment Advisory Group (EAG) should be under Council control and that it is desired to launch the operaion of the group quickly. There were no objections concerning the participation of IATA's observers in the group. Review of The Report Of The Twenty-Fourth Meeting Of The Dangerous Goods Panel (DGP/24) was presented by the President of the Air Navigation Commission. The Commission made a preliminary review of proposals to incorporate references to safety management system (SMS) requirements into Annex 18, to upgrade a recommended practice related to dangerous goods.
The Council observed one minute of silence for Dr. Assad Kotaite, ICAO Council President Emeritus who passed away late 27 February. Dr. Kotaite was universally recognized as one of the most prominent and respected figures in the world of civil aviation, recipient of 40th ICAO Edward Warner Award in 2013. The funeral ceremony is expected to be held on Tuesday, 4 March.
On Monday - 3 March, the Safety Week will start.