Brussels pulls airlines into Emissions Trading Scheme
Airlines felt the full impact of Brussels’ 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 £2.8 billion a year, airlines will pay for the gases they emit via a “carbon permits†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 €50 per flight to fares from 2012. Chief executive Michael O’Leary said: “It 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 Europe’s consumers in a measure which won’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.
“These 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 Europe’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.â€
But green campaigners say the law is not enough, saying the law will have little impact on the aviation industry’s carbon footprint.
Tim Johnson of campaign group the Aviation Environment Federation said: “We 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.
“But 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.
“We will continue to press for other measures to be implemented alongside emissions trading to help tackle the full range of the sector’s environmental impacts.â€
By Dinah Hatch
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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