Asia Pacific calls for rethink of EU emissions scheme

Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) Director General Andrew Herdman called (02-Aug-2011) on the European Union to fundamentally rethink its position on the proposed inclusion of international aviation in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). Mr Herdman said that "EU intransigence on this issue has triggered a global political backlash" and that the EU "needs to face up to the fact that it has over-reached its authority" and is now facing "combative legal challenges and threats of a tit-for-tat trade war". [more]

AAPA: "Foreign governments have long held the view that the inclusion of foreign airlines in the EU ETS, without the consent of foreign governments, breaches international treaty obligations and bilateral agreements governing international aviation. More than 140 non-EU governments stated their unequivocal opposition to the unilateral imposition of the EU ETS at the two most recent triennial Assembly meetings of the United Nations International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) in 2007 and 2010," Andrew Herdman, Director General. Source: AAPA, 02-Aug-2011.