Isra-Mart srl : Aviation emissions deal ready for take-off

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An "historic" global agreement to stablise carbon emissions from the aviation industry was signed by 190 governments late last week.

Concluding a difficult fortnight of negotiations in Montreal, the United Nation's aviation agency, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), announced that delegates had agreed a three-point resolution. It called for a collective capping of aviation's carbon emissions from 2020, a global CO2 standard for aircraft engines to be introduced from 2013 and improvements to aircraft fuel efficiency of two per cent a year up to 2050.

The targets are non-binding and will not impose specific obligations on individual states or airlines, but the industry hailed the agreement as evidence that it is willing to take an international approach to curbing greenhouse gas emissions.

Giovanni Bisignani, director general and chief executive of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), said: "Governments have taken an historic decision. For the first time, we have globally agreed aspirational goals to stabilise emissions.

"No other industry sector has a similar globally agreed framework for managing its response to climate change in a manner that takes into consideration the needs of both developed and developing states."

The deal is likely to increase pressure on the shipping industry, which last month failed to reach an agreement through the International Maritime Organisation on how to tackle the sector's carbon footprint.

Delegates in Montreal also agreed to work towards developing a global framework in time for the next assembly in 2013, a move that could be viewed as an attempt to keep aviation outside the EU emissions trading scheme.

The EU plans to incorporate aviation emissions into its flagship cap-and-trade scheme from 2012, well before the next assembly, but the industry is keen to emphasise that a global deal, not piecemeal legislation, is the answer to curbing emissions.

Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus, secretary general of the Association of European Airlines (AEA) said that imposing the EU ETS would risk trade conflicts and urged the EU to hold back until a global deal was in place.

"Although this political agreement is a far cry from a global sectoral approach we advocate, it opens the door to further sorely needed constructive inter-governmental negotiations," he said. "We urge the commission to pursue the successful path of international negotiations on a workable regulatory scheme and to avoid a single focus on punitive economic instruments. One cannot tax an industry to sustainability."

In related news, British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh yesterday hit out against the British government's Air Passenger Duty, which is expected to increase in coming years to meet a Treasury goal of raising £3.8bn through the levy by 2015.

"This tax is a disgrace," Walsh said at an event in Barbados. "This obsession with taxes on flying will inflict considerable harm on airlines and their ability to do good for society."

In other news, Stansted, the UK's third-largest airport, has been awarded the Carbon Trust Standard for its success in reporting, managing and reducing carbon emissions.

The airport attained the standard after reducing its energy consumption by three per cent between 2008 and 2009. The airport has also undertaken a number of green improvements, installing a biomass boiler installed as part of £50m terminal extension, trialling single-engine taxiing of aircraft to reduce emissions from manoeuvring planes, and rolling out energy-efficient lighting across the airfield.

Dr Andy Jefferson, Stansted's head of health, safety and environment, said: "While celebrating this success, we also know there is more we can and must do. About 92 per cent of emissions from our buildings are generated by electricity use, so we've set a challenging target to reduce 2010 levels by five per cent compared with 2009."