Briefing

50/50 snap back for aviation ETS

November 14, 2013

The new Commission proposal cuts the emissions coverage and environmental impact of the aviation Emissions Trading System by two thirds. Only the portion of flights leaving the European Economic Area (EEA) which are within EEA ‘airspace’ would be covered under this proposal. The proposal also exempts from emissions coverage all carriers operating on routes from the EEA to over 80 developing countries with less than 1% of aviation emissions.

T&E proposes the following improvements to the Commission proposal:
  • The airspace coverage approach can only be accepted as an interim measure pending real progress at ICAO.
  • Otherwise the ETS must automatically snap back to cover emissions from 50% of all arriving and departing flights from 2017 (the 50/50 option).
  • Reduced scope means the emissions cap must also be reduced to restore environmental integrity.
  • 100% of aviation allowances must be auctioned; there is no argument for allowing industry to earn windfall profits from this much-reduced scheme.
  • All carriers on all routes must continue with the monitoring (MRV) requirements.

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