New York Times (May 16,2012)
10 Airlines Snub Europe’s Emissions Rule
By BLOOMBERG NEWS
Published: May 15, 2012
LONDON — Chinese and Indian airlines failed to submit carbon-dioxide
emissions data for 2011, disregarding European rules that seek to
expand the region’s emissions trading system to include aviation.
There has been “systematic non-reporting” of emissions to and from
Europe from 10 airlines based in India and China, the European
Commission said Tuesday in a statement on its Web site. The European
Union expanded its Emissions Trading Scheme in January to include
airlines. The new rules require carriers to submit data on their carbon
emissions for last year, although carbon permits are not required for
2011 emissions.
The inclusion of airlines in the E.T.S. triggered opposition from
countries including the United States, China and Russia. They said the
European Union should let a United Nations agency, the International
Civil Aviation Organization, decide on greenhouse-gas limits for the
industry.
The Chinese and Indian airlines represent less than 3 percent of the
sector’s emissions, said Connie Hedegaard, the European climate
commissioner. Eight airlines in China and two in India have until
mid-June to submit the data, she said. The remaining airlines reported
last year’s emissions by the March 31 deadline, the commission said in
the statement. More than 1,200 emissions reports have been submitted
from airlines, it said.
The Union, home of the world’s biggest carbon trading system by volume,
decided in 2008 that aviation would become a part of its cap-and-trade
plan this year. Airline carbon-dioxide discharges in the region doubled
over two decades and international organizations failed to enact
pollution curbs.
The airlines that failed to obey the rules probably will not be
penalized. Instead, the European Union may become more strict next year
when airlines need to hand in allowances to cover their emissions,
Isabelle Curien, a Paris-based analyst at Deutsche Bank, predicted.
“The E.U. will be very, very flexible,” Ms. Curien said. “Member states
may be unwilling to instigate an operating ban” for airlines that fail
to comply, she said. An operating ban would restrict entry of airlines
into the Union.
The Union may wait until airlines need to hand in carbon allowances and
credits for the first time, on April 30, 2013, Ms. Curien said.
This year, carriers will be given free emission permits covering 85
percent of the industry cap and will have to buy the remaining 15
percent at auction. They can also trade among each other.
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