EU regulators have little to fear from airlines evading the bloc’s climate measures, a new study by Transport & Environment (T&E) finds.
To address the aviation sector’s growing climate impact, the European Commission has proposed to reduce aviation emissions by mandating the use of cleaner fuels (through ReFuelEU) and also by putting an effective price on CO2 emissions (through the EU Emission Trading System (ETS)).
EU airlines claim that regulations risk being avoided by parts of the industry and therefore leading to carbon leakage. Carbon leakage happens when airlines or passengers are able to avoid paying the extra costs of clean fuel or ETS allowances or by changing their behaviour, partially reducing the effectiveness of such a policy, as some emissions would not reduce but just be displaced to other regions.
T&E has investigated the potential for carbon leakage linked to direct flights stopping-over in non-EU hubs. It shows that the industry’s concerns regarding leakage from direct flights stopping-over outside of the EU are unfounded. The key conclusions are:
T&E concludes that there is no reason for the EU not to impose its climate measures on all departing flights from its territory. This will help mitigate the largest proportion of aviation emissions from extra-EU long haul journeys.
An upcoming study will investigate carbon leakage caused by switching a stopover from an EU airport hub to a non-EU hub.
Position paper: ReFuelEU Aviation: T&E’s recommendations
Position paper: Aviation ETS: T&E’s feedback to EU Commission proposal
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