The European Council wants to change the reference period used for measuring carbon dioxide emissions growth under the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA).
Originally adopted in 2016, CORSIA established that international airlines would need to pay for exceeding emissions above a baseline that averages carbon dioxide emissions from 2019 and 2020. The idea is to keep levels stable from 2020 onward. Since the covid-19 pandemic has affected air travel globally, many airline industry representatives don’t think 2020 should count toward the average. In a statement released this week, the EU urged the UN aviation agency the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to only refer to 2019 emissions levels for CORSIA. “[T]he amended baseline period for the emission values used to calculate growth factors should refer to 2019 emission levels,” the EU argued. Politico noted that last year was a record one for air travel around the world.
Environmentalists aren’t buying that argument. On Tuesday, EDF International Counsel Annie Petsonk posted a blog on EDF’s site where she called the airlines’ request ironic. “Airlines are publicly touting their commitments to reducing emissions,” Petsonk wrote. “But behind the closed doors of the ICAO Council, they’re pushing a rewrite that would give them a free pass to escape offsetting requirements for three to five years or more.”
Source: Environmental Leader
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