Brussels, 13/10/2010 (Agence Europe) - Despite overall satisfaction at the fact that ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) has reached an agreement on the fight against greenhouse gas emissions caused by civil aviation (EUROPE 10233), the reactions of players in the field of aeronautics and the environment to the results of this agreement remain mixed. In a press release published on Monday 11 October, the rapporteur of the European Parliament on the European system for trading in emissions (ETS), Pieter Liese (EPP, Germany), called for a new approach to be found to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the aviation sector. Amongst other things, Liese stressed that ICAO had failed to make any “substantial progress” in reducing emissions from aviation. “Negotiations at ICAO have lasted 13 years” and the emissions from the sector “have continuously increased”, he pointed out. He went on to propose that a new agreement be negotiated within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). If China or India manages to block negotiations in the framework of this convention, the EU should “bilaterally extend the ETS system to third countries”, he said, adding that thanks to its system, the EU has set a “good example” in the fight against climate change. The Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO) echoed the call of the industry, requesting that the effort to reduce emissions be sustained a notch or two higher. “We are pleased that 190 ICAO states have acknowledged the vision of the aeronautical industry to low-carbon growth from 2020” and “a reduction of 50% in emissions by 2050, compared to 2005”, said Director General of CANSO, Graham Lake. He welcomed the “first step and historical moment” represented by the compromise negotiated within the world of civil aviation. However, he said that the sector “of air traffic control in particular” needed “greater governmental assistance” to obtain ambitious objectives. “Greater political will is needed” to go beyond the existing institutional barriers, he stressed, calling for civil-military cooperation and collaboration between the transport and defence ministers to be stepped up to lead to a more flexible use of the air space and a better conception of the air space. For their part, Transport& Environment (T&E) and the Aviation Environment Federation (AEF) have both stated that additional measures should be taken to reinforce the ETS system. Both of these organisations warned against the planned exemption for countries whose airlines do not constitute 1% of the global market (EUROPE 10233). “The EU declared that it was constructively committed to the debate on these exemptions” or on the exclusion from the ETS system of “incoming traffic” to the EU, according to T&E and AEF in a joint press release. They also warned that excluding flights to the EU from the ETS would cut the volume of emissions covered by the scheme by 40%. (A.By./transl.fl)