Isra-Mart srl: Airlines hit back over ETS criticism

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The European aviation industry has moved to clarify its stance on carbon pricing, after facing mounting criticism over its alleged reluctance to join the EU's emissions trading scheme (ETS) from next year.

The Association of European Airlines (AEA) yesterday issued a strongly worded statement insisting carriers were not looking to "shirk their environmental obligations" and did not want all airlines to be excluded from the EU's emissions trading scheme (EU ETS).

The statement comes after the AEA and manufacturer Airbus wrote to the European Commission warning of a "trade conflict" with the rest of the world if plans to charge operators per tonne of CO2 emitted for every flight in and out of Europe went ahead.

Aviation emissions account for around two per cent of global output, but the sector is predicted to expand rapidly. The EU expects bringing these emissions into the EU ETS will save 183 million tonnes of CO2 per year by 2020, a 46 per cent reduction on a 'business as usual' scenario.

The industry says the only fair way to deal with the issue without damaging trade or risking retaliatory action is through a global deal, but the EU and green groups say sluggish progress made at International Air Transport Association (IATA) talks means such an agreement is a long way off.

American carriers have already launched legal action against the EU's decision, while the China Air Transport Association (CATA) has said it too will consider a lawsuit.

AEA secretary general Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus used yesterday's statement to plead with the Commission to work with the industry to head off a trade war with the world's other aviation powerhouses.

He warned complying with the EU ETS would impose a €3.5bn annual burden on airlines, which would have pushed all 36 AEA members into the red in every year but one of the past decade.

He added that the efficiency and voluntary emissions targets agreed at IATA put the industry ahead of other sectors and argued that efforts to develop biofuels underlined its commitment to reducing its environmental impact.

Ultimately, the EU's unilateral action was "unnecessarily burdensome" and could even "jeopardise a global approach", he said.

"At a time when Europe's economic recovery is lagging behind other regions and the Eurozone is struggling to regain stability, we want to avoid trade conflict which could potentially damage Europe's air links, with knock-on consequences for imports, exports and mobility," he concluded.