Atmospheric Degradation
Emissions

Talks target emissions cap on airline and shipping industries

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

Talks target emissions cap on airline and shipping industries (FILES) -- A file picture taken on Novem...(FILES) -- A file picture taken on November 2006 shows a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 737 aircraft leaving vapour contrails after flying through low-altitude clouds while making its final approach at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang. A Sudanese passenger jet was hijacked on August 26, 2008 shortly after takeoff from the country's war-torn region of Darfur and ended up landing in Libya with more than 100 people on board. The hijackers of the Sun Air Boeing 737 have claimed to belong to a Darfur rebel group and want to fly to Paris, Libyan officials said August 27. AFP PHOTO/TENGKU BAHAR (Photo credit should read TENGKU BAHAR/AFP/Getty Images)©AFP A move to cap emissions from airline and shipping companies has emerged in talks on the global climate change agreement to be signed in Paris at the end of this year. The idea of imposing carbon pollution targets on each industry has appeared in the lengthy negotiating text that representatives from more than 190 countries began working on in Geneva this week. More ON THIS STORY Plastic pours into seas at 8m tonnes a year ‘Crazy’ energy ideas are long-term bets Oil urged to speak up in climate debate ON THIS TOPIC Political leaders in joint climate pledge Deep divisions laid bare at climate talks Unilever CEO backs tough emissions target US watchdog raises fresh Keystone doubts IN EUROPE Shooting at Copenhagen free speech meeting Ukraine fighting flares ahead of truce Showdown nears for EU and Greece Siege mentality spawns new Donetsk identity Sign up now firstFT FirstFT is our new essential daily email briefing of the best stories from across the web The measure is being backed by countries in the EU, which fought a bruising battle three years ago to make international airlines flying to and from Europe pay for their carbon pollution. Brussels eventually reined in its scheme, confining it to flights within the EU, after it sparked a diplomatic row with some of its largest trading partners, including China and the US. An additional proposal in the Paris negotiating text would “encourage” international air and shipping bodies to develop a levy scheme to help countries adapt to climate change. Aviation is one of the fastest growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions that the Paris deal is supposed to reduce, but the measure is expected to be opposed by many countries. Still, some envoys in Geneva said they were pleased to see it on the table. “We’re happy to see it being discussed,” said Mary Ann Lucille Sering of the Philippines, adding her country’s many islands meant air travel was important but it was a relatively small market compared with other nations. Including shipping and aviation emissions in a global climate deal has proved difficult in the past. The last big climate pact, the Kyoto protocol agreed in 1997, required rich countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions but did not include pollution from ships or aircraft, partly because it occurs around the world rather than in a single country. Instead, it was left to each industry’s specialist UN agency, the International Civil Aviation Organization and the International Maritime Organization, to develop a global plan to address emissions. ICAO is working on a proposal due to be considered in 2016 and a spokesman for the International Air Transport Association, the aviation industry’s main body, said the process was going well and had been recognised by countries in the UN climate talks. In depth Climate change Climate Change And Global Pollution To Be Discussed At Copenhagen Summit...GRANGEMOUTH, UNITED KINGDOM - NOVEMBER 17: Grangemouth oil refinery emits vapours near the Firth of Forth on November 17, 2009 in Longannet ,Scotland. As world leaders prepare to gather for the Copenhagen Climate Summit in December, the resolve of the industrial nations seems to be weakening with President Obama stating that it would be impossible to reach a binding deal at the summit. Climate campaigners are concerned that this disappointing announcement is a backward step ahead of the summit. News and analysis on the world’s changing climate and the political moves afoot to tackle the problem “The industry is fully supporting ICAO’s work in this area,” the spokesman said, adding Iata’s members had agreed a resolution in 2013 calling on governments to develop a global market-based measure in line with its commitment to carbon-neutral growth from 2020. But some say progress is still far too slow and the move to include aviation emissions in particular in the Paris deal is welcome. Bill Hemmings, aviation and shipping programme manager at the Brussels-based Transport & Environment research organisation, said that with aviation and shipping each accounting for about 3 per cent of global C02 emissions, and with air travel in particular growing fast, it was time both sectors faced targets to limit their pollution. “How can we have large countries like China and the US, and developing countries making commitments to cut their emissions while these two sit on their hands?” he said. “The issue is not even on the agenda of the IMO, the UN’s shipping body. ICAO has promised action by 2016 but operates in complete secrecy. Both sectors are exempt from fuel tax so a levy on emissions to help countries adapt to climate change makes great sense,” Mr Hemmings said.