By Helen Massy-Beresford in London
The inclusion of air transport in the European Union carbon emissions trading scheme (ETS) would have limited benefit and could cost the industry as much as €1.5 billion ($1.9 billion) per year, Lufthansa has warned.
The proposed inclusion would represent an “unacceptable cost risk” for airlines and would cost the industry at least €500 million per year and potentiall three times that, according to the German carrier's head of environmental issues, Karlheinz Haag.
The position is at odds with several other European airlines including the UK's British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Airways as well as that of Scandinavian Airlines, all of which have come out in full support of aviation's inclusion into the ETS.
With intra-European flights covering just 0.2% of worldwide carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, there would be a “negligible environmental benefit” to including aviation in the scheme, Haag says.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has “steadily overestimated the impact of aviation, due to lack of scientific knowledge,” Haag says. He argues that of a worst case scenario of surface temperatures rising by up to 6°C (10°F) by 2050, only around 0.05°C would be attributable to aviation. He warns against confusing high growth rates in aviation with increasing levels of CO2 as technological advances allow aircraft to emit less.
Haag argues that the potential risks of the ETS outweigh the benefits: the effects of the scheme on worldwide emissions will be marginal, and the “leadership effect” of the EU is “unknown and unpredictable,” he says. On the other hand, a reduction in mobility would harm economic activity, and EU businesses would suffer, with cost increases and job losses; aviation accounts, directly and indirectly, for 29 million jobs worldwide.
Haag stresses the need for a considered approach, and international cooperation, to address the issue of cutting emissions. Haag says an integrated “EU Emissions Containment Policy”, involving improving infrastructure and operations, taking advantage of technological improvements and putting economic incentives in place, is a viable alternative to including emissions in the ETS.
Under the Europe-wide ETS, companies are given a certain number of “carbon credits” which allow them to emit CO2. Companies that emit fewer emissions can sell their credits to companies wanting to buy the right to emit more.
Source: Flight International
