The European Parliament has approved expansion of the EU emissions trading scheme to all airlines flying within, into or out of E.U. countries from 2011.
The proposed law is now to be approved by the EU Council of Ministers.
The emissions trading scheme establishes a per-company cap on carbon dioxide emissions. Companies that exceed the cap must buy credits at auction or from companies that fall below their caps. This creates a financial penalty for companies that don’t cut their emissions, and a financial benefit for the ones that do.
For airlines, the Parliament has approved a cap for carbon dioxide emissions at 90% of an aircraft operator’s annual emissions from 2004 to 2006.
EU Parliament argues that EU carriers should not be disadvantaged by their legislation. In approving its amendment to include all carriers in 2011, the Parliament argued that “climate change is a global phenomenon which requires global solutions.”
Valere Tjolle
