Aviation and International Emissions Trading
by Christopher Tung (Hong Kong) and Vanessa C. Edwards (London).
This article is an excerpt from K&L Gates' Global Government Solutions 2011 Annual Outlook, which contains informative articles on some of the most consequential government developments that we anticipate in 2011 across a range of substantive areas.
In 2008, the European Commission took the major step of including aviation in the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) from 2012. This unprecedented action created controversy between the EU regulator, the aviation industry and states as to the legality of the extension of the EU ETS to aviation and the best approach to regulate aviation emissions. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the United Nations agency responsible for International civil aviation, has led key aviation industry efforts to advocate coordinated actions against climate change.
At the Sixteenth Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP-16) held in Cancun from November 29, 2010 to December 10, 2010, the aviation industry put forward, through ICAO, the consolidated statement of continuing ICAO policies and practices related to environmental protection – climate change.
The main thrusts of the ICAO submission at Cancun were (i) to reiterate the determination of ICAO member states to continue to play a leading role in global efforts to address climate change by working through ICAO to limit or reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from international aviation and (ii) to outline ICAO Assembly Resolution A37-19 of October 2010 (A37-19). Highlights of Resolution A37-19 include...
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