US backs aviation emissions market plan

The United States has come out in support of a proposed market-based system to curb carbon emissions from the global aviation sector starting in 2020.

However, a US official warned that concerns over measures to lower emissions in the interim threatened to undercut the broadly supported goal.

Reuters Newsagency reports negotiators from over 190 countries have gathered at the United Nations’ International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) triennial assembly in Montreal.

They have been going over details of a proposal to curb greenhouse emissions from the aviation industry as agreed by ICAO’s 36-member governing council earlier this month.

Many countries have expressed support for a global market-based measure to reduce airline emissions, the details of which would be decided in 2016 for a proposed 2020 launch.

Australia’s new conservative Liberal-National coalition government has backed away from the previous Labor government’s enthusiasm for the global aviation emissions deal, with Infrastructure Minister Warren Truss saying that Australia would not commit to a market-based deal.

If the deal goes ahead, aviation could become the first major industry sector to launch a global market system to curb carbon emissions.

Country representatives said they are wary of a section of the plan that addresses how interim national and regional measures that charge foreign air carriers for their emissions would operate until 2020.

The US delegation supports countries and regions that want to have interim regulations in place before a global mechanism is created, but only if they limit measures to their respective airspace, the US official said.

It is concerned, however, that the proposed resolution would exempt a large number of countries from complying with those interim measures.

Under the current wording, around 160 of 191 ICAO states would be exempt.

“Throughout this process, the US government and the US airline industry have strongly supported ICAO efforts to develop a global market-based measure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“That position has not changed,” a US official told Reuters ahead of the discussions.

“While we support the concept of de minimis exemptions, the current approach raises serious concerns for the United States.”

Julie Oettinger, the lead US negotiator and assistant administrator of the Federal Aviation Authority, said in remarks to the assembly that exemptions should be granted to airline operators rather than states.

Poorer countries, however, have required an exemption from any interim measures in exchange for supporting the resolution, said Englebert Zoa Etundi, Cameroon’s representative to ICAO, who represents the African bloc of negotiators.

The European Union, currently the only region that has a market-based system to charge fees on emissions that would apply to foreign air carriers, said any changes to the current proposal could unravel, “a very delicate balance that has the support of the majority of ICAO.”

Arijandas Sliupas, Lithuania’s deputy transport minister, said on behalf of the European Union’s 44 member states that, although the agreement is “not perfect, if forms the single package we have all been looking for.”

Environmental groups said there is wide support for a global deal after years of tough negotiations and warned that concerns over just a few provisions should not stop wider progress.

Annie Petsonk, international counsel for the Environmental Defence Fund, said the goal is to launch the global emissions cap process and deliver it by 2016.

“We are at a crucial moment in the history of ICAO’s efforts to tackle the climate issue.

“The credibility of this institution and of the governments who lead it – including the US and the EU – is on the line,” Ms Petsonk added.