On Tuesday 9 June, the Council of the European Union adopted by written procedure a decision adapting the EU position on the baseline period to be used to measure the growth of CO2 emissions from international aviation under the carbon offsetting and reduction scheme for international aviation (CORSIA).
While the reference level established in 2018 was the average of the emissions covered by CORSIA measured in 2019 and 2020, the EU position, as defined by the Council decision, is to refer to the 2019 emissions level only, "to take into account the unprecedented drop in air traffic due to the coronavirus crisis".
"Adapting the baseline is crucial to maintaining a similar level of ambition for the scheme and the commitment of ICAO [International Civil Aviation Organisation] States to the CORSIA pilot phase while taking into account the extremely difficult circumstances created by the pandemic for international air traffic", said Oleg Butković, Croatian Minister of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure.
The level of emissions in this baseline period is used to calculate the growth rate of emissions from the aviation sector to determine the quantities of CO2 to be offset by the airlines covered by CORSIA (see EUROPE 12487/19).
The EU Council's decision should therefore be welcomed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). According to IATA, keeping the 2019-2020 baseline agreed by CORSIA participants would indeed put airlines at risk, as they will have to buy more offsets than expected due to the exceptional drop in aviation emissions in 2020 caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
"The use of verified emissions from 2019 alone to establish the CORSIA baseline is a pragmatic and simple way to mitigate the extraordinary and unforeseeable impacts of the Covid-19 crisis on CORSIA", says IATA.
On the other hand, the EU Council's decision is not going down well with the environmental NGO Carbon Market Watch. "The European Union is taking a step backwards on the only international climate policy covering the aviation sector, by de facto agreeing to postpone the start of CORSIA by at least 3 years", Gilles Dufrasne, a member of the NGO, told us.
According to him, raising the baseline threshold in this way - with aviation emissions in 2019 being higher than the average of those in 2019 and 2020 - means that emissions are very likely to remain below this threshold until 2023 or even 2025, and that there will therefore be no offsetting obligation for airlines for several years to come.
While the pilot phase of CORSIA is due to be launched in 2021, the baseline period of CORSIA is currently being reviewed by the ICAO Council at its 220th Session. This session began on Monday 8 June and will close on 26 June. (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)