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The European Union has vowed to impose carbon emissions caps on flights in and out of the region’s airports starting next year. This comes in the face of opposition from non-EU countries, including the US and Russia, and a formal complaint was filed on Wednesday. The US, Russia, China and 23 other countries urged that non-EU carriers be exempt from the scheme at a meeting of the United Nations International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) governing council.
The dispute highlights the challenge of creating a global deal to put a price on CO2 emissions, only four weeks before the UN summit on post-2012 climate-protection regulations. This follows the US House of Representatives approving a bill that will ban the nation’s airlines from participating in the scheme.
The EU is aiming to lead the battle against climate change and decided in 2008 that the aviation industry should be part of its cap-and-trade programme after emissions in Europe doubled over 20 years. US-based airlines are challenging the legislation in an EU court, and the carrier association of China had predicted that the scheme could prompt conflict.
The opposing nations say that the legislation will infringe a ‘cardinal principle of state sovereignty’ by founding its charges on the distance flown by every flight. This means calculations will include airspace outside of the EU, which will violate a 1944 pact that allows every nation exclusive authority over its skies. It will also discriminate against countries further away from Europe than others.
The Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is the cornerstone of the plan set out by the EU to reduce greenhouse gases, which are blamed for global warming. Pollution limits are already imposed on over 11,000 power companies and manufacturers, leading to a cap in 2020 that will reduce discharges to 21% below 2005 levels.
The law that extends to airlines offers an option of excluding incoming flights from a certain nation if that country imposes equivalent measures that will reduce pollution from its air transport sector. Due to the rule, airlines are slated to lose €1.2 billion next year. Carriers that don’t comply with the regulation will face fines of €100 per missing permit, or 10 times their current value.
European Commission climate spokesman Isaac Valero-Ladron said that they aren’t going to modify the plan to extend the ETS to all airlines entering or leaving the region. EU top climate action official Connie Hedegaard says that it’s disappointing that the ICAO talks are again focusing on what States shouldn’t do, rather than what they should do, to curb increasing aviation emissions. Unfortunately, the organisation has missed the opportunity to tell the world when it will provide a viable international solution.
The European Union has vowed to impose carbon emissions caps on flights in and out of the region’s airports starting next year. This comes in the face of opposition from non-EU countries, including the US and Russia, and a formal complaint was filed on Wednesday. The US, Russia, China and 23 other countries urged that non-EU carriers be exempt from the scheme at a meeting of the United Nations International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) governing council.
The dispute highlights the challenge of creating a global deal to put a price on CO2 emissions, only four weeks before the UN summit on post-2012 climate-protection regulations. This follows the US House of Representatives approving a bill that will ban the nation’s airlines from participating in the scheme.
The EU is aiming to lead the battle against climate change and decided in 2008 that the aviation industry should be part of its cap-and-trade programme after emissions in Europe doubled over 20 years. US-based airlines are challenging the legislation in an EU court, and the carrier association of China had predicted that the scheme could prompt conflict.
The opposing nations say that the legislation will infringe a ‘cardinal principle of state sovereignty’ by founding its charges on the distance flown by every flight. This means calculations will include airspace outside of the EU, which will violate a 1944 pact that allows every nation exclusive authority over its skies. It will also discriminate against countries further away from Europe than others.
The Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is the cornerstone of the plan set out by the EU to reduce greenhouse gases, which are blamed for global warming. Pollution limits are already imposed on over 11,000 power companies and manufacturers, leading to a cap in 2020 that will reduce discharges to 21% below 2005 levels.
The law that extends to airlines offers an option of excluding incoming flights from a certain nation if that country imposes equivalent measures that will reduce pollution from its air transport sector. Due to the rule, airlines are slated to lose €1.2 billion next year. Carriers that don’t comply with the regulation will face fines of €100 per missing permit, or 10 times their current value.
European Commission climate spokesman Isaac Valero-Ladron said that they aren’t going to modify the plan to extend the ETS to all airlines entering or leaving the region. EU top climate action official Connie Hedegaard says that it’s disappointing that the ICAO talks are again focusing on what States shouldn’t do, rather than what they should do, to curb increasing aviation emissions. Unfortunately, the organisation has missed the opportunity to tell the world when it will provide a viable international solution.
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