The International Air Transport Association (IATA) and 123Carbon have announced a strategic collaboration to improve interoperability between their respective Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) registries. The initiative aims to enhance transparency, prevent emissions reporting errors—including double issuance—and streamline the management of SAF certificates across multiple registries.
The partnership will focus on three key areas a unique identifier system to align key data points for seamless information exchange, a standardised process to prevent duplicate issuance of SAF certificates, and dispute resolution mechanism to address potential discrepancies.
Marie Owens Thomsen, IATA’s Senior Vice President for Sustainability and Chief Economist, emphasised the importance of collaboration in ensuring trust in SAF certification, “Transparency through interoperability is essential to maximising SAF’s role in aviation’s decarbonisation. The more registry providers align, the better. We encourage all stakeholders in this space to work with IATA and 123Carbon towards global interoperability.”
Jeroen van Heiningen, Managing Director of 123Carbon, highlighted the role of the initiative in strengthening trust in Environmental Attribute Certificates (EACs), “With IATA, we have found a strong aviation partner that shares our commitment to market integrity. This collaboration ensures that SAF providers, airlines, freight forwarders, and corporate users can manage SAF certificates digitally, free from concerns over double issuance.”
IATA and 123Carbon will invite further industry stakeholders to participate in the initiative, aiming to deepen cooperation and enhance the functionality of SAF registries globally.
