EU carbon aviation law foes press ahead with a global alternative
In the EU, Reuters reports that according to an unnamed US official, seventeen countries opposed to the EU carbon tax said they will continue to work on a multilateral framework under the auspices of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the UN’s global aviation body.
The conflict has already gone on for so long in “negotiation” mode that it is hard to see how a solution acceptable to all parties could now arise, especially with the US government in determined opposition to the tax despite its strong support for the real solution, the aviation biofuels that could make the tax meaningless and unnecessary.
According to Reuters, the countries “plan to try to implement the goals and actions they agreed to at the 2010 ICAO assembly.” These include a voluntary target to cap net carbon emissions by 2020, national action plans, improving air traffic management, and adopting an emissions standard for aircraft, according to the meeting chairman’s summary. But is the past is any guide that might involve another decade of talking. The real “multilateral framework” acceptable to all is likely to require a lot more algal biofuels and very little talking.
Category: Policy
