Global airlines nudge towards carbon emissions trading

In 2012 European airlines are scheduled to be included in the carbon emissions trading scheme for the first time. Aviation is a industry responsible for 650 million tonnes of CO2 annually - around two percent of global greenhouse gas pollution but this share is expected to rise in the years ahead and the industry has been under sustained pressure from stakeholders including the EU Commission and green pressure groups to do something to tackle carbon emissions.

The airlines have complained about being included in the EU scheme - they complain that participation will damage their competitiveness during a difficult time for airline businesses. Swiss International Airlines chief executive Christoph Franz has argued that including airlines in the EU-ETS could actually lead to more greenhouse gas emissions as airlines sought to fly around EU airspace.

But without signs of an active commitment to reducing their emissions, the industry may well find that it is subject to even tougher regulation in the years ahead and/or a specific pollution tax on aviation fuel as a means of ‘making the polluter pay’.

This week four of the world’s biggest airlines have supported a global scheme to curb carbon emissions - they are Air France/KLM, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Virgin Atlantic together with the under-fire airport operator BAA.

The Aviation Global Deal Group is pushing for a global cap on aviation emissions to take effect in 2013 when the new climate deal to replace the Kyoto Protocol must be in place. A UN body would be charged with auctioning the C02 allowances with some of the revenue earmarked for financing lower carbon investments in developing countries and some to help fund development of sustainable second-generation biofuels for use in aviation.

Watch this airspace .... this is a really important aspect of the climate change policy domain within the European Union.