Brussels, 07/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - The Transport & Environment (T&E) NGO has accused EU governments of dismantling the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme. It is calling on the European Parliament to reject the EP/Council compromise reached on 4 March during trilogue meeting (see EUROPE 11032).
T&E believes that EU member states have succumbed to pressure from third countries and the aviation industry by deciding to shrink the scope of the aviation emissions trading system (ETS) to cover only flights between EU airports until 2016, leaving long-haul flights totally unregulated. The NGO explained that if this deal is confirmed, it will reduce the amount of CO2 emissions covered by three quarters compared with the original scheme (Directive 2008.101/EC), which would charge carbon fees for the full length of flights in and out of the EU. France, Germany and the United Kingdom have said that excluding the long haul flights would reduce tension with third countries and resolve implementation problems.
Bill Hemmings, aviation manager at T&E, explained: “With this deal European governments have conceded again to international pressure without getting anything meaningful in return, let alone guarantees that soaring international aviation emissions will one day be tackled. Shrinking the aviation ETS to cover intra-EU flights effectively amounts to the dismantling of a European climate law. We urge MEPs to stand firm for Europe's principles and sovereign rights, especially in today's circumstances, and reject this deal.”
The member states rejected the Commission's proposal, which had the support of the EP's environment committee and aimed to cover emissions from flights made within the European regional area - thus at least some of the emissions from flights to and from non-EU countries. This decision essentially represents an extension of the one-year suspension known as stop the clock until 2016. Stop the clock was an interim solution devised in 2012 to allow the ICAO to agree on a global instrument to tackle the impact of international aviation on the climate, explains T&E. In T&E's view, the only positive point in the EP/Council compromise is that a return to the original ETS might be planned in 2017, if ICAO fails to deliver credible progress towards the global deal by its next assembly in September 2016.
Aviation is the most carbon-intensive transport mode, responsible for about 5% of man-made climate change. If aviation were a country it would be ranked 7th in the world for CO2 emissions - between Germany and Korea, states the T&E. (AN)