CADO SAF Registry Completes Government Pilots to Support Regulatory SAF Claims

1 September 2026

 The Civil Aviation Decarbonization Organization (CADO) has completed pilots with government authorities in Japan and the UK, carbon auditors and airlines. The two pilots tested how the CADO SAF Registry can support regulatory claims for Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), including under CORSIA and national schemes. 

The pilots demonstrate the CADO SAF Registry’s readiness to support regulatory SAF claims, a key capability as airlines, governments, and auditors work to ensure that SAF environmental attributes are tracked transparently, verified appropriately, and claimed only once. 

Two features of the Registry, which improve oversight and reduce the administrative burden associated with SAF reporting, were tested: 

  • The State Account, which allows state authorities to view SAF redemption or retirement data shared by airlines with their consent.  
  • The Claiming Module, which enables airlines to generate the CORSIA eligible fuels supplementary information to the Emissions Report at the click of a button. 

“The SAF market is in a very early stage. Practical systems that build trust and transparency while meeting the needs of airlines, auditors, and governments will be an essential enabler. These pilots are an important step in showing that the CADO SAF Registry can support this need for regulatory SAF claims in a way that strengthens oversight while simplifying the process for airlines,” said Michael Schneider, Executive Director, CADO. 

About the Pilots 

A full regulatory-claim workflow was followed in both pilots, which were conducted in parallel. Airlines registered and redeemed SAF Units, claimed them for CORSIA or UK ETS purposes, and generated the relevant CORSIA eligible fuel claim forms. Carbon auditors reviewed the content of the redemptions, while state authorities viewed the redemption data and cross-checked it against reports. 

  • The Japan pilot involved the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB), Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK), All Nippon Airlines and Japan Airlines.  
  • The UK pilot involved the Environment Agency, one of the UK environmental regulators, Normec Verifavia, Cathay Pacific, TAP Air Portugal, Jet2 Airlines and Croatia Airlines.  

"This pilot has provided valuable insight into how digital tools could support the reporting and review of Sustainable Aviation Fuel claims. As SAF use grows, transparent and reliable systems will be increasingly important, and pilots like this help us better understand how they could support existing regulatory processes," said Nick Smith, Principal Technical Officer at the Environment Agency. 

"Japan recognizes the importance of transparent and credible processes for SAF reporting and review, drawing on its experience with CORSIA Eligible Fuel claims. This pilot offered a valuable opportunity to explore how governments, airlines, and verifiers can efficiently exchange and assess relevant information while maintaining the integrity of SAF claims," said Yasushi Yamashita, Director of the Carbon Neutrality Promotion Office, JCAB.  

About CADO 

The CADO SAF Registry is the first SAF registry designed to facilitate regulatory SAF claims by airlines, with a designated State account, which is free of charge, for effective oversight by State authorities. It can also support voluntary claims, making it a practical tool for a SAF market in which airlines may need to account for SAF purchases across both regulatory and voluntary frameworks. 

The completion of these pilots builds on CADO’s broader work to strengthen the integrity of SAF markets. In June 2026, the CADO SAF Registry, 123Carbon, and Assure SAF Registry completed an interoperability pilot demonstrating that SAF environmental attributes can be checked across independent registries to help protect against duplication and support credible emissions-reduction claims. The government pilots add another dimension by focusing on how the Registry can support regulatory oversight and claims processes.  

For more information, please refer to the Enabling SAF Claims in Regulatory Schemes via the CADO SAF Registry: ​​CORSIA and UK ETS Claim Pilots publication on the CADO website.  

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