News and Analysis • Volume 1 • Number 2 • December 2007
Acrimony at aviation meeting
At the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Assembly in September, the EU and US clashed over the legality of including international aviation in the European emissions trading scheme.
The EU has set up the scheme as one of its main measures to reach its commitment reductions under the Kyoto Protocol. The scheme currently covers industry, with aviation set to be included as early as 2011. The US opposes a scheme under which its airlines would have pay up when landing and departing from Europe.
At its last meeting in 2004, the Assembly had issued a resolution supporting regional emissions trading schemes. At the 2007 Assembly, however, participants drafted a resolution saying that regional emissions trading schemes should be based on ‘mutual consent’ when involving aircraft from third parties. In practice, this would require negotiating separate agreements with all third parties. The European group filed a “reservation” against the ICAO resolution, meaning they are ready to go ahead with including aviation in their emissions trading scheme. “Whilst Europe is committed to multilateral action to address the effects of aviation emissions, mutual agreement is not a pre-condition for the implementation of market-based measures,” according to the written reservation of the group. The group called the current ICAO approach to climate change piecemeal and unambitious.
The ICAO Assembly decided to establish a working group on aviation and climate change, which will be charged with looking at, among other, voluntary measures, possibilities for technological advances in aircraft and ground-based equipment, improvements in air traffic management, economic incentives, and market-based measures to achieve reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases.