The aviation industry finds itself in a rare position of strength as it prepares for a new round of global climate change debate, with governments supporting the industry’s approach and the top U.N. official praising aviation as a role model for other sectors.

This is a welcome change for an industry more accustomed to being an environmental whipping-boy. Commercial aviation should escape close scrutiny during the U.N.’s climate change summit in Copenhagen in December, thanks to new-found unity among aviation groups and governments.

A key milestone was reached when the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) agreed on a set of emissions goals during a high-level meeting Oct. 9. While there are still some notable differences in the details, the ICAO declaration is similar in principle to proposals drafted by a wide range of industry bodies under the leadership of the International Air Transport Assn. (IATA).

IATA Director General Giovanni Bisignani says it was crucial for ICAO to achieve consensus before the U.N. meeting in Copenhagen, as failing to do so could have left the industry open to the kind of regional restrictions airlines are desperate to avoid. “The risk was very high that ICAO would go to Copenhagen with nothing to say,” Bisignani says.

Instead, the industry looks to be a step ahead of other sectors. Meeting with Bisignani last week, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon applauded aviation groups for taking such an aggressive approach to emissions, describing their targets as something that could be emulated by other industries. Ban offered to help IATA promote its emissions goals at Copenhagen.

The main thing the aviation groups needed from ICAO was an endorsement that targets would be set for the industry on an international level, known as a global sectoral approach. And this was achieved in the declaration from last week’s high-level meeting, meaning that the U.N. will probably leave it up to ICAO to develop emissions goals for airlines and manufacturers.

On a more detailed level, ICAO was more stringent than the industry proposal on some points, but did not go as far on others. For example, the ICAO declaration calls for a 2% annual improvement in fuel efficiency through 2020. This target is higher than the 1.5% proposed by IATA and the other aviation industry groups.

However, ICAO did not include the carbon-neutral goals the industry had suggested. IATA is aiming for carbon-neutral growth by 2020, and a 50% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050 compared with 2005 levels.

Bisignani says the overall outcome was positive, and the meeting “delivered almost everything we wanted.” The gap between the ICAO and IATA positions on fuel efficiency can be closed by governments doing more to support biofuels and modernizing air traffic management systems, Bisignani says. He also notes that industry was in the unusual position of pushing a much more ambitious target than regulators regarding carbon-neutral growth.

As well as the 2020 fuel efficiency target, ICAO proposes an “aspirational goal” of further annual 2% improvement from 2021 through 2050. It will evaluate more ambitious goals in time for the next ICAO assembly in September 2010. ICAO also intends to create a process for developing economic measures such as carbon trading, and will encourage the development and use of biofuels.