09 July 2008

Brussels pulls airlines into Emissions Trading Scheme

Airlines felt the full impact of Brusselsââ¬â¢ power yesterday when European MPs approved new laws governing carbon emissions by carriers.

The move means airlines will now be included in the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). The aviation industry has so far been left out of the Emissions Trading Scheme in a bid to allow it to compete properly in international markets.

Under the ETS, which it is estimated will cost the industry around Ã&#pound;2.8 billion a year, airlines will pay for the gases they emit via a ââ¬Åâœcarbon permitsââ¬~ system. Each carrier gets a ceiling and airlines exceeding the cap will have to buy carbon credits.

A resounding 640 votes came in on the side of the green curb (with 30 against) which will see airlines cut carbon emissions by 3% in the first year and 5% by 2012 onwards.

Every carrier flying into and out of the EU must fall into the line with the ETS and will have to pay for 15% of their pollution permits at first.

Air traffic is on course to double by 2020 and Brussels estimates that 3% of all carbon emissions in the European Union is caused by aviation.

Ryanair led the chorus of disapproval from the airlines, saying the law would add up to â'š~¬50 per flight to fares from 2012. Chief executive Michael Oââ¬â¢Leary said: ââ¬ÅâœIt is extraordinary that a bunch of MEPs who swan around between Strasbourg and Brussels, enjoying huge expenses and flight benefits, would vote to increase taxation on Europeââ¬â¢s consumers in a measure which wonââ¬â¢t have any effect at all on the environment, but will further damage European airlines at a time when oil is already $140 a barrel.

 Ã¢â¬ÅâœThese clowns in the European Parliament seem determined to destroy the European airline industry with these discriminatory taxation penalties. When aviation accounts for less than 2% of Europeââ¬â¢s Co2 emissions, and when airlines like Ryanair have invested heavily in new aircraft to reduce our emissions per passenger by 50%, there is no justification for this tax theft by the European Union.ââ¬~

But green campaigners say the law is not enough, saying the law will have little impact on the aviation industryââ¬â¢s carbon footprint.

Tim Johnson of campaign group the Aviation Environment Federation said: ââ¬ÅâœWe welcome the inclusion of aviation in the emissions trading scheme as a first step towards the sector paying its environmental costs, and we acknowledge the important role of the UK government in pushing this forward.

ââ¬ÅâœBut the agreement as is stands will actually have very little impact on the growth of aviation emissions. We keep hearing that the ETS will cap emissions from aviation, but in fact, if airlines exceed their limit they can simply buy credits from other sectors. Airlines pay no tax on fuel for international travel, yet the amount they consume grows every year.

ââ¬ÅâœWe will continue to press for other measures to be implemented alongside emissions trading to help tackle the full range of the sectorââ¬â¢s environmental impacts.ââ¬~  

By Dinah Hatch

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• O'Leary and the future of the planet
  
  

  O'Leary's remarks regarding the vote by MEPs to incorporate aviation into the ETS are typically abrasive and unhelpful. It is true that the ETS is a relatively flawed measure in so far as it basically hands out a license to pollute free of charge, up to a point, to large corporations such as his own. I wait with baited breath for O'Leary's contribution to a more effective alternative to combatting irreversible climate change, but I would no more bet on this happening than I would our chances of avoiding even more severe climatic upheaval.

  By Raoul Bianchi, Wednesday, July 9, 2008
• Where does the money go?
  
  

  What we must not forget is how the customer is the one caught up in this issue. I do believe that we have become a tax culture and I have yet to see evidence of how this is going to offset emissions whether it be from from air travel or any other form of transport. Just where does this money go? Will we see a surge in tree planting? Will we ever develop a machine that could collect the carbon emissions? And what about space travel? I am assuming that the emissions here are far higher than that of a short haul flight?

  By jason shadlock, Wednesday, July 9, 2008