Carbon Emission Norms
The European Union (EU) has included emissions from international civil aviation in their emissions trading scheme with effect from January 1, 2012, following which all airlines including Indian Airlines, flying into and out of EU will be subject to a limit on emissions and will have to buy emissions permits up to a certain limit.
The Minister of State (I/C) of Environment and Forests Smt. Jayanthi Natarajan replied this to a question in Lok Sabha today. She added that exemption under the scheme are permitted only for those foreign airlines that operate at a frequency of two flights per week or less. The EU measure is likely to result, on a conservative estimate, in an additional cost to an extent of Euros 6-8 per passenger for a flight from India to Europe and vice versa.
The Minister informed the House that India considers the step taken by EU as a unilateral measure and in violation of the Chicago Convention and the provisions of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The Government has expressed its serious concerns to the European Union on this unilateral measure both at multilateral and bilateral level. India is a party to the joint declarations issued in Delhi and Moscow by a group of like-minded member states of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) that are opposed to the EU’s decision.
The Minister revealed that the joint declaration issued in Moscow suggests a basket of measures that may be taken by the concerned country against EU measures. The basket of measures includes invoking dispute resolution mechanism under the Chicago Convention, prohibiting the airlines from participating in the EU’s scheme, submission of data/flight details and reviewing the bilateral air services agreements.
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