Global deal on aviation emissions puts EU scheme under pressure

© Worldshots

Policymakers at the UN’s aviation body, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), yesterday reached a new agreement to limit emissions from aviation from 2020 – although the scheme is only set to become mandatory from 2027. It’s great news for environmental campaigners and could pave a way for new agreements in shipping. The agreement does, however, raise the interim problem of what happens to the emissions trading scheme (ETS), which has hitherto only been applied to intra-Europe flights, much to chagrin of European airlines which felt penalised against non-EU carriers. “Following the ICAO agreement, the commission now has to make tough decisions about the future of its ETS. One likely option is to permanently exclude third countries from the scheme. But some fear that, by doing so, the executive will also cripple the scheme for intra-European flights.”