ICAO Assembly

The ICAO Assembly is the plenary organ of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a UN specialized agency headquartered in Montréal. It is established under Article 48 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation (the Chicago Convention, signed 7 December 1944). Every contracting state is entitled to one vote, and decisions are generally taken by a majority of votes cast unless the Convention specifies otherwise.

Under the Convention, the Assembly must convene at least once every three years; in practice sessions are now held triennially in Montréal. Its core functions include:

• Electing the 36-member Council, ICAO's governing body, under Article 50.
• Reviewing the work of the Council and the Air Navigation Commission.
• Voting the budget and apportioning expenses among contracting states.
• Amending the Chicago Convention and adopting policy resolutions on technical, economic, legal, and environmental matters.

The Assembly has been the forum for several landmark decisions in aviation governance. The 38th Session (2013) endorsed work on a global market-based measure for international aviation emissions, leading the 39th Session (2016) to adopt the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA). The 41st Session (2022) raised CORSIA's long-term aspirational goal to net-zero CO₂ emissions from international aviation by 2050.

For MUN purposes, ICAO Assembly committees are less common than ECOSOC or GA simulations, but specialized conferences sometimes replicate its structure. Delegates should note that ICAO operates on a standards-and-recommended-practices (SARPs) model: the Assembly sets direction, but technical SARPs are adopted by the Council and annexed to the Convention. Resolutions of the Assembly are not directly binding on states, though Article 38 obliges members to notify ICAO of any differences from adopted standards.

The Secretary General of ICAO services the Assembly, and observer delegations from non-member entities and industry bodies such as IATA typically attend.