The ICAO Council approved, on Saturday 14 March in Montreal, the eligible emission units for the CORSIA offset system, limiting the number of poor quality credits - a lesser evil, but not a panacea, judging by initial reactions in the EU.
Of the fourteen organisations that had applied to be eligible for their emissions offset program, only six were recognised as such, namely: the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), China's GHG voluntary Emission Reduction Programme, the Voluntary Carbon Standard, the Gold Standard, the Climate Action Reserve and the American Carbon Registry. The Forest Carbon Partnership Facility and the Global Carbon Council are also recognised with conditional eligibility, pending changes to their procedures.
The ICAO has also decided that emissions units are only issued to activities which commenced as of 1 January 2016, and in respect of emissions reductions occurring through 31 December 2020. It is estimated that this could reduce the potential supply of credits ranging between 180 million and 570 million, down from several billion that could have been eligible if no restrictions had been adopted.
Relative progress. "Anything that reduces emissions from the aviation sector is progress and it is important to maintain international dialogue and pressure on this issue. However, if we focus our efforts on technological advances in engines and offset systems, we will miss the boat", the Chair of the European Parliament Transport Committee, Karima Delli (Greens/EFA, France), told EUROPE.
According to her, "there is a need to transform the aviation sector as a whole, by investing in research and deployment of alternative fuels and more sustainable alternatives such as night trains". "Other levers can be explored in the future, such as taxation on kerosene", she added.
It is better than nothing, but still insufficient, according to NGOs. In the opinion of the environmental organisation Carbon Market Watch, this is a mere ‘damage-control’ agreement, which "falls short of the level of ambition needed".
The total supply of credits will always be several times larger than demand over CORSIA’s pilot phase - the demand is estimated to be between 44 and 158 million credits, depending on the scenario used, and the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on aviation emissions in 2020 (see EUROPE 12446/12).
"The adopted restrictions are better than nothing, but the climate crisis leaves no space for second-best options. The door is still open for airlines to use junk credits to offset their pollution", said Gilles Dufrasne, who considers that the CDM "has lost all credibility". (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)