Plans accelerate to limit airline carbon emissions (29/5/08)

May 29, 2008 at 3:05 pm Leave a comment

MEPs in Brussels have voted to include the aviation sector in the EU Emissions Trading System a year ahead of schedule. Under a plan put forward by the European Commission, any flight that takes off or lands in the EU from 2012 will be part of the trading scheme which sets a limit on the amount of greenhouse gas emissions allocated to each airline. However the European Parliament has voted to bring forward the start date to 2011.
Fine Gael MEP Avril Doyle welcomed the move, pointing out that the EU is the first global player to make airlines take responsibility for their carbon output.
The total number of emissions allocated is to be calculated on the basis of 95% of the reference period between 2005 and 2007. A quarter of emission rights are to distributed through auction, and the remainder through a standardised allocation system.