The 7th Plenary Meeting of the Aviation Non-CO₂ Expert Network (ANCEN) brought together sixty leading experts representing the scientific community, academia, aircraft manufacturers and operators, fuel producers, research organisations, air navigation service providers, non-governmental organisations, regulators and policymaking actors to advance the understanding of aviation’s climate impacts from non-CO₂ emissions and support evidence-based discussions and decision-making.
ANCEN provides technical support to policy and operational decision-making processes on effective action to mitigate the overall climate impacts caused by aviation taking into account both CO2 and non-CO2 emissions. The event allowed for a constructive dialogue on a range of topics that included evolving scientific understanding; operational flight trials to avoid climate warming contrails and effective interface / coordination between policy – research – industry domains. Main highlights:
- updates on ANCEN Work Programme, priority research gaps, communication, uncertainty assessment and technical guidance.
- discussions on sustainable aviation fuels, navigational contrail management and the EU ETS non-CO₂ Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) framework.
- research presentations from organisations including Airbus, Boeing, German Aerospace Center (DLR), FAA, International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace (IPSL) and others.
- interactive breakout sessions shaping ANCEN’s future work.
- final Communication Event in Brussels planned for May 2027.
More information on ANCEN can be found on the dedicated webpage where the Network deliverables are published, as well as background notes to introduce the following topics: Climate effect of aviation contrails, Time scales of the climate effects of aviation CO₂ and non-CO₂ emissions and Benefits of changes in fuel composition on aviation non-CO₂ emissions
The event took place at the EASA Headquarters in Cologne, between 23-25 June.