The European Regions Airline Association has strongly criticised a European Commission paper on climate-change project financing.
In September, the EC published Stepping up international climate finance: A European blueprint for the Copenhagen deal, in which it proposed that the aviation industry could "provide an important source of innovative financing" for environmental projects in the developing world.
"The paper discusses only the enormous sums that the EU must provide," complains ERA director general Mike Ambrose. "It notably omits any mention of the means by which the distribution of these funds will be controlled."
Ambrose is calling for such controls to be put in place lest the funds be diverted to "offshore bank accounts". He warns: "There is a known level of inefficiency and corruption in many developing states. We cannot afford to support corruption."
The EC paper estimates that "the scale of finance required for mitigating emissions and adapting to climate change in developing countries will reach roughly €100 billion [$148 billion] per year by 2020".
Source: Flight International
