Airlines could get
a free pass on climate
change actions
for five years, under
an industry proposal.
The International Air
Transport Association
( Iata ), called on the
UN body responsible
for aviation to ease
airlines’ obligations
to offset their emissions
growth, under a scheme
known as Corsia.
Iata urged the International
Civil Aviation Organisation
( Icao ) to change
the baseline
from which
emissions growth
will be measured
– a move that
could save airlines
$15 billion in carbon
offsetting costs.
The baseline change
could see airlines
pay nothing for their
climate change
impact until 2024.
The agreed baseline
for measuring emissions
was to be the two-year
average across 2019
and 2020.
But with 2020 being
a year of low air travel,
because of restrictions
to contain the spread
of COVID-19, airlines
have proposed
to measure only
from the
pre-pandemic
levels in 2019.
Öko-Institut in Germany
found that changing
the baseline to 2019
could give airlines
a free pass to "pollute"
for the next three
to six years, depending
on the speed of the
post-COVID economic
recovery.
The US-based
Environmental
Defense Fund
agreed.
France, Germany,
Italy, the UK, Finland,
the Netherlands,
Spain and Greece
are in favor of
the adjustment.
Member states of Icao
had agreed to offset
all growth in aviation
emissions after 2020.
But with few
technological
solutions currently
available to reduce
airplane CO2
"pollution",
airlines were
expected to pay
for emissions cuts
in other industries,
under a carbon
market called
Corsia.
Some in the UN
aviation talks argue
the baseline change
is not needed because
carbon offsets
are already
very cheap.
An existing flexibility
provision built in Corsia
could be used by airlines
to delay their offsetting
obligations, and limit
additional financial costs.
“This could be
the final blow
for Corsia,”
said Gilles Dufrasne,
senior policy officer
at Carbon Market Watch.
“It was always
a ridiculously
weak system,
but now it is
becoming
essentially
meaningless.
Airlines are just
let off the hook
one more time.”
Jo Dardenne,
aviation manager
at NGO Transport
& Environment, said:
“The aviation sector
is clearly using the
Covid-19 crisis
to dilute the
environmental
effectiveness
of a scheme
that was already
expected to bring
little to zero
environmental
benefits.”
Besides
European
countries,
the US and the
Latin American
Civil Aviation
Commission
are also
supporting
the rule change.
Any decision taken
by the council
requires a majority
of at least 19 countries.
Annie Petsonk,
aviation expert at the
Environmental Defense
Fund (EDF), said the
council was not legally
entitled to change
the rules of the
climate deal that
was agreed by
193 countries at
Icao’s Assembly
in 2016.
Instead, Icao’s assembly
would need to approve
any recommendations
to change the rules
for offsetting emissions.