European Action to Limit Aviation Greenhouse Gas Emission
by Leia Ruseva
Preparing itself for the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, the European Union has set a prominent target: it aspires to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 20% (compared to 1990) between 2013 and 2020. The EU and the other parties of the Kyoto protocol have to submit information on their Quantified Emission Limitation or Reduction Objective (QUERLO) to the UNFCCC by 1 May 2012. Meanwhile, the European Commission has published a Staff Working Document that provides technical input for discussions with member states. The document was based on the Durban climate change conference and summarizes the conclusions reached at the end of it. According to the document some of the yet unresolved issues involve QUERLOs taking into account not only the target 2020 reduction but also the pathway to it, starting in 2013, and the impact of the carry-over of the surplus of Assigned Amounts Units between the two commitment periods. In addition to that, even though the developed countries worldwide have already agreed to participate in a second commitment period, it is yet unclear how the amount of reduction for the different parties would be calculated. Having a reputation for being incredibly committed to battling climate change, the EU not only pledged to significantly reduce its carbon emissions by 2020, but also decided to incorporate international aviation in its climate action policy.
The EU’s 2020 pledge is the result of an agreement, reached by the European Council in March 2007, under which the countries of the Euro zone decided to reduce the amount of emitted CO2 by 20% compared to 1990. Following this pledge, the EU has taken international aviation into its scope, which was not discussed in Durban and remains excluded from the objectives of the Kyoto Protocol. As implementation of the EU aviation directive officially began on January 1 2012, all airlines need to hold permits to cover their CO2 emissions for flights in the EU airspace. According to the directive, all flights that arrive and depart from EU airports fall under the scope of the European Trade System and airlines are to be fined 100 Euro ($128) for each ton of greenhouse gas that they fail to surrender allowances for.
This decision led to much controversy in the international arena, since airlines felt that the directive was not consistent with the rules of the World Trade Organization, mostly because according to the directive the EU has the right to ban persistent off enders from its airports. Since airlines provide important international service trade, taking the carbon emissions from aviation into the EU’s cap and trade system will result in significant implications in international trade, especially because air travel serves as an enabler of other forms of trade, such as tourism and business.
However, the European Union remains firm in its decision, and the Aviation Directive is currently being implemented. The reason for the EU’s decision to include both non-EU and EU airlines under its cap and trade system is the so-called carbon leakage, leading to an unfair advantage that would have been given to non-EU airlines had the directive been limited to European airlines only. Carbon leakage arises when the imposition of a carbon price drives domestic businesses to operate within countries not pricing carbon or to increase imports of goods from such states, which results in no net reduction in global CO2 emissions. Furthermore, competitiveness issues occur when the price of domestically produced goods is increased by the carbon price, resulting in substitution with cheaper imports from countries not pricing carbon, severely harming domestic industry. In order to avoid this turn of events, the EU Airline Directive includes airline companies worldwide.
According to the European Commission the main reason for implementing the directive is the rapid increase in greenhouse gas emissions in the aviation sector – the projected global international aviation emissions by 2020 are to be 70% higher than those in 2005, and they are expected to grow further to 700% by 2050. Following its long-time commitment to fight global warming, the EU therefore decided to take action to limit the emissions generated by the aviation industry. As the Director- General for Climate Action Jos Delbeke noted in his speech during the Durban Conference, “it is more than logical that there is a contribution from the aviation sector.” By taking the battle against global warming to an entirely new level, the EU has once again shown its willingness to contribute to the well-being of future generations, even when it means facing strong resistance from a powerful lobby like the aviation industry.
by Leia Ruseva
Preparing itself for the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, the European Union has set a prominent target: it aspires to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 20% (compared to 1990) between 2013 and 2020. The EU and the other parties of the Kyoto protocol have to submit information on their Quantified Emission Limitation or Reduction Objective (QUERLO) to the UNFCCC by 1 May 2012. Meanwhile, the European Commission has published a Staff Working Document that provides technical input for discussions with member states. The document was based on the Durban climate change conference and summarizes the conclusions reached at the end of it. According to the document some of the yet unresolved issues involve QUERLOs taking into account not only the target 2020 reduction but also the pathway to it, starting in 2013, and the impact of the carry-over of the surplus of Assigned Amounts Units between the two commitment periods. In addition to that, even though the developed countries worldwide have already agreed to participate in a second commitment period, it is yet unclear how the amount of reduction for the different parties would be calculated. Having a reputation for being incredibly committed to battling climate change, the EU not only pledged to significantly reduce its carbon emissions by 2020, but also decided to incorporate international aviation in its climate action policy.
The EU’s 2020 pledge is the result of an agreement, reached by the European Council in March 2007, under which the countries of the Euro zone decided to reduce the amount of emitted CO2 by 20% compared to 1990. Following this pledge, the EU has taken international aviation into its scope, which was not discussed in Durban and remains excluded from the objectives of the Kyoto Protocol. As implementation of the EU aviation directive officially began on January 1 2012, all airlines need to hold permits to cover their CO2 emissions for flights in the EU airspace. According to the directive, all flights that arrive and depart from EU airports fall under the scope of the European Trade System and airlines are to be fined 100 Euro ($128) for each ton of greenhouse gas that they fail to surrender allowances for.
This decision led to much controversy in the international arena, since airlines felt that the directive was not consistent with the rules of the World Trade Organization, mostly because according to the directive the EU has the right to ban persistent off enders from its airports. Since airlines provide important international service trade, taking the carbon emissions from aviation into the EU’s cap and trade system will result in significant implications in international trade, especially because air travel serves as an enabler of other forms of trade, such as tourism and business.
However, the European Union remains firm in its decision, and the Aviation Directive is currently being implemented. The reason for the EU’s decision to include both non-EU and EU airlines under its cap and trade system is the so-called carbon leakage, leading to an unfair advantage that would have been given to non-EU airlines had the directive been limited to European airlines only. Carbon leakage arises when the imposition of a carbon price drives domestic businesses to operate within countries not pricing carbon or to increase imports of goods from such states, which results in no net reduction in global CO2 emissions. Furthermore, competitiveness issues occur when the price of domestically produced goods is increased by the carbon price, resulting in substitution with cheaper imports from countries not pricing carbon, severely harming domestic industry. In order to avoid this turn of events, the EU Airline Directive includes airline companies worldwide.
According to the European Commission the main reason for implementing the directive is the rapid increase in greenhouse gas emissions in the aviation sector – the projected global international aviation emissions by 2020 are to be 70% higher than those in 2005, and they are expected to grow further to 700% by 2050. Following its long-time commitment to fight global warming, the EU therefore decided to take action to limit the emissions generated by the aviation industry. As the Director- General for Climate Action Jos Delbeke noted in his speech during the Durban Conference, “it is more than logical that there is a contribution from the aviation sector.” By taking the battle against global warming to an entirely new level, the EU has once again shown its willingness to contribute to the well-being of future generations, even when it means facing strong resistance from a powerful lobby like the aviation industry.
