Brussels, 11/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - In the turbulence that has seen several third countries in conflict with the European law which brings civil aviation into the European emissions trading scheme (ETS), India has now decided to take action to make clear its opposition. The Indian aviation ministry is close to telling Indian airlines not to comply with the ETS which, since 1 January, has required all major airlines which fly into or out of the EU to pay for 15% of their allocated emissions allowances.
“We have been against such a levy from the beginning. We will soon issue an order banning airlines from paying any tax on carbon emission to the EU”, said a senior civil aviation ministry official, quoted by Reuters on Wednesday 11 April. Indian Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan, also quoted by Reuters, said that having to pay a carbon tax in Europe, which India sees as an attempt to “disguise unilateral trade measures under climate change”, is a “deal-breaker” on climate negotiations.
When asked by the press to respond to this statement, Isaac Valero Ladron, spokesperson for Climate Action Commissioner Connie Hedegaard, expressed incomprehension. The EU, he said, has long backed quicker emissions reduction for the industrialised countries than for developing countries. There has to be an emissions reduction for the whole of the European aviation sector, he went on, but only for part of the Indian aviation sector. He could not see how this could provide grounds for ending negotiations, since what is being sought is global emissions reductions. He added that the EU ETS is an incentive to greater ambition throughout the world, including India.
To discourage non-compliance, the ETS directive makes provision for a penalty of €100 per tonne of CO2 emitted over and above allocated allowances and persistent breach of the legislation may lead to the Commission's banning airlines from entering and leaving the EU, though this would only come as a last resort. China has already barred its companies from paying any sum of money under the ETS, unless they are given permission to do so, and has suspended a large Airbus order. US airlines, which lost their appeal to the European Court of Justice, have announced that they will comply, though only grudgingly, with the legislation. Negotiations are continuing at the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to try to reach an agreement on air transport emissions reduction. (AN/transl.rt)