Climate Change News
Below are news items on climate change – many with relevance to aviation
ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS HAIL HISTORIC COURT DECISION UPHOLDING EUROPEAN LAW TO CURB AIRPLANE POLLUTION, ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE
A transatlantic coalition of environmental groups today applauded the decision of Europe’s highest court to uphold the EU law to reduce carbon pollution from airplanes. The decision, from the Court of Justice of the European Union, affirms that the EU law is fully compliant with international law. This is their final ruling. The EU Aviation Directive, the world's only mandatory program to address emissions from aviation, will take effect in January 2012. The Court’s decision makes clear that existing law bars precisely the discriminatory treatment of airlines that the United States and others are calling for.
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CAA produces its 2nd Insight Note, on aviation and the environment
The CAA has published its Insight note in relation to climate change, noise and air pollution. This is one of 3 documents in which the regulator sets out its views (its members are the aviation industry). Its aim, therefore, is to find ways to mitigate the problems while allowing UK aviation to grow. The CAA says that without a global ‘cap and trade’ scheme, the EU ETS is the next best option for meeting the carbon challenge. On noise they acknowledge that there needs to be much more recognition of the extent of the problem but only add the anodyne comment that they hope to reduce "the numbers of people affected by noise and encouraging industry to better engage with their local communities to try to create consensus in support of sustainable development".
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Europe fights to save cap-and-trade as price of carbon continues far too low to be effective
Aviation joins the EU Emissions Trading System on 1st January. Due to the recession, the price of a tonne of carbon was €14 in January 2011, but now it has been down to €6 or so, making it much cheaper to pollute and slashing the financial incentives for companies to invest in low-carbon technologies. With the prospect of recession and the problems for the €, the price could fall to €2 soon, making the system ineffective. There are far too many permits in the system, and there always have been since the scheme's launch in 2005. Technologies like carbon capture and storage are not economically viable unless the price is at least €25. Now the environment committee of the European Parliament voted to withdraw some 1.4 billion allowances, about 15% of the total, from the carbon market between 2013 and 2020.
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Durban Climate talks end with weak deal that lacks ambition and risks 4 degrees C
At the end of the Durban talks, governments once again failed to provide the inspiration and ambition to tackle climate change and provide hope for hundreds of millions around the world who suffer and will continue to suffer from climate-related impacts. The outcome is a weak agreement that establishes a Green Climate Fund with little money, postpones major decisions on the content of the Kyoto Protocol, delays any real action for several years, and makes an unclear commitment to a global agreement from 2020 that could leave the world legally bound to 4 degrees of global warming. That would be a catastrophe.
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Dropping the application of CBDR to international aviation could unlock significant financing for developing countries
The Climate Group writes that in order to solve the fundamental problem of different perspectives of the developed and the developing countries on aviation emissions, the position by developing countries on CBDR (Common But Differentiated Responsibilities) needs to be dropped. CBDR contrasts with the ICAO principle of equal national treatment. Developing countries may see the issue more in terms of carbon, while developed see the issue more in terms of market distortion.
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Father of climate change, James Hansen, says 2C limit is not strict enough
James Hansen, Direct or of NASA's Goddard Institute says there is a widespread misconception among international climate negotiators meeting in Durban that the 2C "safe" target would stop extreme changes. This is is not true. He believes global atmospheric CO2 should not exceed 350ppm. It is now at about 389 ppm. Some scientists believe 450ppm is a reasonable target. Massive global effects would be inevitable.
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Durban COP17 – difficulties of including international shipping
The European Court of Justice will soon rule on including aviation emissions, but not those of shipping, in the EU ETS. International shipping produces 3 - 4% of global CO2. But But it seems the EU would be unable to enforce restrictions on ships flying flags of convenience from outside the European bloc. A recent report by WWF and Oxfam shows how international shipping could be charged in a fair way, in a global system, for their carbon emissions without unduly harming poorer nations.
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UN report shows role for EU ETS in helping to control rising emissions from aviation
A new report from UNEP looks at the gap between the emissions cuts needed to avoid a 2 degrees C rise in temperature by 2020, and the pledges made. It finds that global aviation (excluding military) produced around 0.63 GtCO2 in 2005 and could rise to 1.16 GtCO2e in 2020. Aviation and shipping together could be 4 - 5.7% of global emissions by 2020 and 10 to 32 % of the total emissions humanity could be producing in 2050, while staying below 2 degrees. Schemes like the EU ETS are very helpful in charging for carbon and cutting its emission.
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UK airlines seek to evade taxation
Commenting on the airlines' attempts to get cuts in APD, the Aviation Environment Federation says while Government figures suggest that the benefit to the aviation industry as a result of its paying no fuel tax or VAT is around £10 billion a year, APD brings in only £2 billion. The four airlines ‘pleading poverty’, have all recently made millions of pounds in profit. Ryanair reported a £467 million profit in the months to Sept 2011. APD will represent a ‘double counting’ of environmental costs, as it was never designed as an exclusively environmental tax.
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European politicians call on EU to ensure international aviation emissions are addressed at Durban climate talks
In a resolution adopted at a plenary session of the EP, MEPs have urged the EU to push for binding reduction targets on international aviation emissions at the forthcoming UNFCCC COP 17 climate talks in Durban. Negotiations at UNFCCC over international aviation and maritime carbon emissions have been largely stalled for some time and the MEPs say resolution of the issue has become increasingly pressing. ICAO says it is "taking active steps"- but little progress is expected on the issue, which has seen a split down developed/developing world lines and arguments over texts at a basic level.