EU backs down on ETS

by CHIEF CORRESPONDENT, TOM BALLANTYNE  

December 1st 2012

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Well, well, well, what a turn up for the books. During a panel discussion at the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) Assembly of Presidents in Kuala Lumpur in November, the European Commission’s (EC) director of transport, Matthew Baldwin, hinted a compromise on the European Union’s stance on its emissions trading scheme (ETS) may be on the cards. Read More »

Five days later it was official. The EC’s commissioner for climate action, Connie Hedegaard, announced she had “stopped the clock” and suspended the inclusion of international aviation in the EU ETS after a “positive” International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) council meeting. The industry will now focus on providing a global framework for aviation emissions through ICAO by the time of the organisation’s next general assembly in September, 2013.

The AAPA’s director general, Andrew Herdman, said the EU had “bowed to the inevitable”. He added: “The implied threat of an automatic snapback in a year’s time [after the ICAO assembly] means the EU will still be seen by some as negotiating with a gun on the table.”

IATA director general, Tony Tyler, described the commission’s move as a “pragmatic decision” while the China Air Transport Association’s deputy secretary general, Gen. Chai Haibo, described it as a “sensible choice”.

China’s airlines had refused to take part in the EU ETS, but Gen. Chai said: “China will take an active part in ICAO’s negotiations to address the aviation carbon emission issue.”

It has been a tumultuous year for the EU ETS, which came into effect on January 1. Many of Europe’s own carriers joined the rest of the world in speaking against it. The word compromise was first used earlier this year by the EU transport commissioner, Siim Kallas. And following early threats of reprisals to the ETS by China, Hedegaard suggested a global solution may be acceptable.

Eight of China’s airlines, along with two Indian carriers, failed to submit carbon emission data by a March deadline set by the EU.

Last month, U.S. President, Barack Obama, signed into law legislation that enables the country’s transportation secretary to forbid its airlines from participating in the EU’s ETS should it be re-introduced.

Now it is up to ICAO to come up with the goods: an ETS that will satisfy the EU’s Commission for Climate Action.