Brussels, 03/11/2011 (Agence Europe) - Despite protests from the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the EU will not amend its 2009 legislation. European Commissioner for Climate Action Connie Hedegaard (EUROPE 10487) explained on Thursday that as from January 2012, this legislation will include civil aviation as part of the Emissions Trading System (ETS) on greenhouse gas emissions. In reply to ICAO's formal appeal on 2 November in Montreal for the EU to withdraw its unilateral decision to include flights from third countries in the ETS, the commissioner criticised the wait-and-see attitude of international civil aviation and reiterated her conviction that a solution could be found as part of the provisions contained within the ETS directive (which contains exemptions) to tackle CO2 emissions from a sector that contributes massively to climate change and which has nonetheless, up until now, remained on the sidelines of the Kyoto Protocol, the only legally binding instrument there is for tackling global warming.
“Unfortunately ICAO has missed again today the opportunity to tell the world when it will table a viable global solution. However, this decision will affect neither the EU's commitment to working within ICAO to agree on a global solution nor our adopted legislation to include aviation in the EU ETS”, stated the commissioner, who added that “Europe is delivering on its commitment to reduce emissions. And it's doing so in line with principles that ICAO has itself endorsed. If the other countries want to reduce aviation emissions differently, that is fine. Our legislation clearly says that if a country outside the EU takes 'equivalent measures' to reduce aviation emissions, all incoming flights from that country can be exempted from the EU system. We really look forward to plans from other states to reduce aviation emissions. ”
Global airlines are urging the EU and its member states not to include flights from third countries in the ETS because this unilateral decision ignores the social and economic conditions existing in different countries (particularly developing countries) and would begin to cut into sustainable growth in the international aviation sector. They also point out that including them in the ETS would undermine the role played by ICAO in helping find solutions for tackling the problems of emissions from international aviation, particularly in response to the request made by the different parties in the United Nations Convention on Climate Change.
Therefore, ICAO has ratified the joint declaration signed in New Delhi (29-30 September) by 26 countries (including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Cuba, Egypt, India, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Paraguay, Quatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, USA, and the United Arab Emirates). It should be pointed out that the EU is awaiting a decision from the European Court of Justice on the appeal sought by US airlines against the ETS. Introductory conclusions by the advocate general (according to which the ETS cannot be attacked on legal grounds) have temporarily supported the EU in its legal position and have allowed it to provide a vigourous response to the vote by the US Chamber of Representatives to establish a draft law exempting US airlines from paying compulsory quotas under the ETS for transatlantic flights (EUROPE 10485 and 10483). (AN/transl.fl)