IATA launches global SAF Registry

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced the official launch of the sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) Registry, now under the management of the Civil Aviation Decarbonization Organization (CADO).

The SAF Registry will provides a standardised and transparent system to record SAF transactions, ensuring the environmental benefits of SAF are traceable throughout the value chain. This allows airlines and corporate customers to accurately claim these benefits against regulatory obligations and voluntary schemes, effectively preventing double counting.

“Aviation’s decarbonisation is a team effort. In releasing the SAF Registry to CADO for launch, we have put in place a critical platform for the benefit of all stakeholders,” stated Marie Owens Thomsen, IATA’s senior vice president sustainability and chief economist. “It ensures that all airlines in the world have access to SAF and that their SAF purchases can be claimed against any climate-related obligations in this domain.”

The registry addresses the current challenge of limited SAF supply by connecting airlines with producers and suppliers globally, regardless of location. It also enables corporate customers to participate in in-sector emissions reductions, leveraging their potential to co-finance decarbonization efforts.

Key features of IATA’s SAF Registry:

• Standardised tracking: A global system to record SAF transactions in a standardised and transparent manner.
• Environmental benefit tracking: Ensuring the environmental benefits of SAF are tracked across the value chain.
• Global connectivity: Connecting airlines with SAF producers and suppliers worldwide.
• Corporate participation: Enabling corporate customers to contribute to in-sector emissions reductions.
• Technology and feedstock neutrality: Favouring diverse SAF production streams.
• Interoperability: Designed to work with other registries, promoting competition and open markets.
• Consistent accounting: Underpinned by the IATA SAF Accounting and Reporting Methodology.

Developed in consultation with airlines, government authorities, OEMs, fuel producers, and corporate travel management companies, the registry already has over 30 early users onboarding.

“While this is of fundamental importance and a historically momentous advance, it is but one step along the way to a mature, transparent, and liquid global SAF market,” Owens Thomsen added. “The Registry cannot produce miracles on its own, but without it, no miracles can be produced.”

IATA emphasised the need for active policy support to ramp up renewable energy production, particularly for SAF. They called for governments to reallocate support from fossil fuel producers to renewable energy, drawing parallels with the successful development of wind and solar energy markets.

Participation in the SAF Registry will be free until April 2027, after which it will operate on a cost recovery basis. This initiative marks a significant step towards a more sustainable future for the aviation industry, fostering collaboration and transparency in the global SAF market.

Earlier in the last week of March, IATA announced the launch of the CADO to manage the SAF Registry.