The European Union plans to get to grips with aircraft CO2 emissions in the hope of pushing airline companies to be more fuel-economical and environmentally friendly. In future, these companies will be required to pay to acquire the right to emit carbon dioxide.
Airline companies will join the existing system of emission trading. Each company will be given a credit or allowance which represents the right to emit a maximum amount of pollutants, based on the average emissions over the past two years. To begin with, the majority of these rights will be issued to the companies free of charge.
Financial incentive
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines believes it can't fly any cleaner than it already does, as spokesman Bart Koster explains:
"For KLM that's almost an impossibility, because we've already been investing in new aircraft with the cleanest engines for years. We try to fly as efficiently as possible, but you can always do better, so we keep on investing in that."
The Netherlands' Deputy Minister for the Environment, Pieter van Geel, believes it's time the airline industry was tackled on this issue. At the moment, the industry doesn't have to pay tax on its fuel or European value-added tax (VAT), and yet it's a major polluter: "We've noted that the airline sector's share in producing greenhouse gases is rising rapidly from ten to - soon - perhaps 25 percent. So, something had to happen to change this."
Paying the price
As for who will ultimately pay the price for the emission rights, the answer is: plane passengers. The polluter should pay, is the reasoning also adhered to by the EU, and indeed, someone who flies back and forth to New York actually causes as much pollution as the average European does in the course of a whole year by heating their home.
The price for a ticket inside the European Union will, as a result of these proposals, rise by about two to nine euros. That, at least, is what the European Commission expects, Tickets for international or long-haul journeys will go up by a larger amount. A return ticket from London to New York is likely to rise by a maximum of 40 euros.
Impact
As stated, the measures are aimed at combating global warming. The EU wants to limit emissions of harmful gases still further, and the European Commission expects that the new system for the airline industry will be having maximum impact by the year 2020. The expectation is that by then the industry should be producing 46 percent less CO2 per annum.
However, Dutch environmental organisation Milieudefensie has described the plan as nothing more than window dressing, arguing that it will not actually do much good to the environment. The organisation believes imposing duty on kerosene - the fuel used by aircraft - would be a much better option.
Launch date
The system will start operation in 2012, applying to all flights to and from Europe. Companies based outside of the EU will, therefore, also be required to take part. That's crucial, says the responsible European Commissioner Stavros Dimas: "We need to have the US on board. The US is the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, amounting to up to 22 percent, the EU is emitting 14 percent, China is coming up with 14 percent now. So it is essential to bring on board all these countries."
The new rules will come into effect a year earlier, 2011, for flights within the EU.
* RNW Internet translation (tpf)
Tags: airplanes, Brussels, climate change, credits, EC, emissions, EU, gases, global warming, greenhouse, KLM, rights, trading