European Parliament urges EU governments to include aviation and shipping in a strong Paris climate deal

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European Parliament urges EU governments to include aviation and shipping in a strong Paris climate deal

The heads of the political groups on the Environment Committee said:
“To promote increased climate ambition from ICAO and IMO, like all the other sectors of the global economy, aviation and international shipping require an emissions reduction target. There is no reasonable excuse to continue exempting these two economy sectors from the global policy framework. Aviation and shipping need to contribute in the same way that is required of all UNFCCC Parties, large and small.” 
(See MEP letter copied below)
The Environment Ministers of the 28 European member states will be meeting on 18 September to finalise the EU position for COP21.
Sotiris Raptis, clean shipping officer at sustainable transport group Transport & Environment, commented: “It’s simply fair to demand from two economic sectors with emissions the size of Germany and South Korea to reduce CO2 emissions in line with keeping the global temperature increase below 2 degrees celsius. The IMO and ICAO have been procrastinating so far. The time for action has come.”

The European Parliament called last week for the establishment of an EU 2030 emissions reduction target for shipping and measures for the reduction of ships’ speed (slow steaming).

International aviation and shipping already account for up to 8% of the global climate change problem – if these two sectors were a country, they would rank in the top 10 list of biggest polluting nations in the world. Most importantly, their emissions are expected to grow by 2050 by 200-300% for aviation and 50-250% for shipping. Such increases would undermine efforts to limit the rise of global temperature to under 2 degrees.

http://www.transportenvironment.org/press/european-parliament-urges-eu-governments-include-aviation-and-shipping-strong-paris-climate

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The letter – from the European Parliament – says:

14.9.2015

Dear Minister Carole Dieschbourg,

Dear Minister François Bausch,

As the Council of the European Union prepares to consider its conclusions on the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change conference to be held in Paris in December 2015 (COP 21), we are writing to highlight the climate impact of international aviation and shipping and the need to ensure that addressing emissions from these sectors is included in the upcoming Council conclusions.

International aviation and shipping already account for up to 8% of global greenhouse gas, and their emissions are expected to grow by 2050 by 200 to 300% for aviation and 50 to 250% for shipping. Such increase would undermine efforts to limit the rise of global temperature to under 2 degrees.

It is therefore of paramount importance that the text to be finalised in Paris includes a requirement for the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to increase their climate ambition and adopt measures to limit and reduce their sectors emissions in line with the overall objective of limiting the temperature increase to under 2 degrees Celsius.

While ICAO is working on a global market based mechanism to implement its target of carbon neutral growth from 2020, a target which already falls well short of what is needed, there is no certainty that an effective agreement on this will be reached at its 2016 Assembly. Moreover the IMO, as recently as last May, stepped back from even launching a process to set up an overall emissions target for international shipping. This is despite the fact that there is an abundance of low-cost mitigation options that would permit global shipping to grow while arresting the growth of its emissions.

To promote increased climate ambition from ICAO and IMO, like all the other sectors of the global economy, aviation and international shipping require an emissions reduction target. There is no reasonable excuse to continue exempting these two industry sectors from the global policy framework. Aviation and shipping need to contribute in the same way that is required of all UNFCCC Parties, large and small.

We call on the EU Member States to defend the current references in the text to ICAO/IMO, and urge them to actively engage with other UNFCCC Parties to develop a wording which is acceptable to the maximum possible number of Parties and which addresses legitimate concerns regarding differentiation of responsibility. In this context, it is essential that the need for ambitious targets for aviation and shipping is reflected in the Council conclusions on COP 21.

Dr. Peter Liese as ENVI Coordinator for the EPP Group.

Matthias Groote as ENVI Coordinator for the S&D Group .

Julie Girling as ENVI Coordinator for the ECR Group

Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy as ENVI Coordinator for the ALDE group

Kateřina Konečná as ENVI Coordinator for the GUE/NGL group

Bas Eickhout as ENVI Coordinator for the Greens/EFA Group

Piernicola Pedicini as ENVI Coordinator for the EFDD Group

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Earlier:

 

NGOs from across Europe send open letter to EU ministers, asking for proper action on aviation CO2

The inclusion of international flights into the EU’s carbon market (the EU ETS) was one factor that created momentum for a global, rather than regional, measure to address aviation emissions. Recognizing Europe’s potential importance in trying to get progress in the ICAO negotiations towards a global MBM (market based measure), open letters from 15 NGOs across Europe have been sent to EU’s transport and environment/climate ministers. The letters ask them to do more in getting aviation CO2 emissions cuts. ICAO is aiming to adopt a global MBM to address some of the rapidly-rising emissions from global aviation,at its 2016 meeting. In theory, if ICAO does not come up with a sufficiently effective MBM, the EU will be asked to bring back its ETS measure. But with just one year till the scheduled adoption, the EU is punching below its weight at the negotiations, and there are concerns the ICAO’e level of ambition on CO2 is far too low. The NGO letters say that to keep aviation CO2 emissions down, the subsidies that European aviation enjoys, including tax-free status of fuel and no VAT, subsidies to non-viable regional airports and legalising operating aid to airlines, need to be cut.

Click here to view full story…

UN climate negotiations need to get agreed emissions targets for international aviation and shipping

Bill Hemmings, of Transport & Environment, writing in Euractiv after the recent UNFCCC talks, says the relevant UN bodies should identify an emission reduction pathway, and ensure that any measures adopted are done so in a fair and equitable way. The UNFCCC negotiating text now includes wording calling for the setting of emission reduction targets for international shipping and aviation, in the context of the objective of the agreement – which is to limit any temperature increase to 2 degrees. There will be more dialogue between parties on why this wording should be included in the Paris Agreement at COP 21. In a “business-as-usual” scenario, CO2 emissions from shipping could increase by up to 250% and from aviation by 270% by 2050. These would account for one-quarter of all allowable emissions under a 2-degree scenario in 2050 and one-third under a 1.5-degree scenario. Despite this reality, the IMO and ICAO have a long record of inaction. ICAO says it will agree by 2016 the details of a measure to deliver carbon neutral growth in 2020, but even that is uncertain and it will depend heavily on the quality of offsets used. However, in any case “carbon neutral growth” by the aviation industry globally will be insufficient to meet a 2-degree scenario.

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Talks in Geneva target a carbon emissions cap on international aviation and shipping

Work is progressing on text for the climate talks in Paris in December. In Geneva work has started, with representatives from over 190 countries, on negotiating texts on how there could be caps on carbon emissions from international aviation and shipping. The EU has been supportive of this sort of cap, having been the first to have an Emissions Trading System including aviation, till the ETS was scuppered last year. Brussels eventually had to cut the range of the ETS to only include flights within the EU, after trade threats from the USA, China and others. Air travel is one of the fastest growing sources of CO2, and the Paris negotiating text might encourage the global aviation industry to levy funds to be used to help poor countries adapt to climate change. However, any measures to limit aviation CO2 emissions are expected to be opposed by many countries. Including shipping and aviation emissions in a global climate deal has proved difficult in the past. If emissions from these sectors are not addressed effectively by 2050, bunker emissions could swell to account for a quarter of all emissions. ICAO is working on a proposal for some form of market based measure on carbon, due to be considered in 2016. Bill Hemmings, of T&E, said: “ICAO has promised action by 2016 but operates in complete secrecy.”

Click here to view full story…