Political divisions in Parliament delay expansion of EU carbon market
The European Parliament gives green light to expansion of aviation ETS, but political disagreements delay adoption of road and shipping ETS.
The EU Parliament has voted in favour of extending its carbon market to all departing flights, but political divisions in the Parliament meant that a landmark extension to shipping and road transport has been delayed.
Jo Dardenne, aviation director at T&E, said: “Europe’s lawmakers have sent a clear signal. The bulk of Europe’s aviation emissions will no longer be ignored, marking a major step forward in tackling heavily polluting long-haul flights. It’s now up to national governments to make this a reality. However, disagreements on the overall package mean ambitious measures for shipping and road transport, agreed on by Parliament, have now been delayed. Negotiators should come back to the table as soon as possible and maintain the ambitious measures already agreed for road and shipping.”
Aviation’s non-CO2 effects (contrails) have long been ignored despite representing two thirds of the sector’s climate impact. Parliament has finally asked to integrate these effects in the ETS by starting to monitor them. The Parliament also agreed to phase out free allowances for airlines earlier than planned, by 2025 instead of 2027.
Beyond aviation, other amendments to the ETS were delayed due to disagreements on the overall package. As a consequence, road and shipping, which were bundled up in the main ETS package, were also delayed. T&E has urged policymakers to go back to the report agreed during the committee phase in the European Parliament (ENVI compromise) and not let political disagreements get in the way of ambitious transport measures.