A TRANSATLANTIC coalition of environmental groups has underlined the importance of a ruling on the validity of a law suit brought by two US airlines against an EU plan to impose carbon levies on aviation in Europe from January 1st next.
The European Court of Justice’s advocate general is to deliver a preliminary opinion in Luxembourg tomorrow on the action brought by American Airlines and United Continental to block the inclusion of aviation in the EU emissions trading system. A final court ruling is expected early next year.
Annie Petsonk, of the Washington-based Environmental Defense Fund, said the issue of aviation emissions had been “kicking around ... for at least 15 years”, with very little progress made either in the UN climate talks or the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
She welcomed the EU directive which places binding limits on carbon emissions from planes landing at or taking off from all EU airports and noted that the European Commission had published a formula last week, under which 85 per cent of allowances were given out free.
Sarah Burt, staff attorney at Earth Justice, said in a briefing yesterday there was no legal basis for the US airlines’ claims that the EU directive “violates the sovereignty of non-EU countries” or that it amounted to an “unlawful charge or tax under aviation treaties”.
The suit by American Airlines and United Continental was initially filed at the High Court in London, which referred it to the European Court of Justice.
Last weekend in Delhi, the US joined Saudi Arabia and other non-EU members at an ICAO council meeting in issuing a joint declaration opposing the EU plan as “inconsistent with applicable international law” and called for an exemption for non-EU airlines.
It also urged the EU and its member states to "work collaboratively with the rest of the international community to address aviation emissions" within the ICAO, and decided to draft a démarcheopposing the imposition of any "regional" initiatives.
The countries involved were Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Egypt, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and the US.
“[These] countries ... say this issue should be addressed in a global forum, but after 14 years of frittering in ICAO, the tooth fairy has a better chance of delivering a serious plan to curb the rapidly rising global warming emissions from aviation anytime soon,” Ms Petsonk said.
“We don’t have time for a fantasy approach to a real-world environmental problem,” she added.
“The Obama Administration pledged to lead global efforts to cut climate pollution, but with regard to aviation, the only thing the State Department and the Department of Transportation are doing now is helping obstruct other nations’ efforts to tackle the problem,” she said.
Meanwhile, Oxfam Ireland has welcomed agreement yesterday by EU finance ministers on a common position for the UN climate change summit in Durban at the end of November, saying a carbon levy on international shipping to finance climate action in developing countries “could be the breakthrough the UN climate talks need”.