Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-07-03-Speech-1-128"
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"en.20060703.18.1-128"2
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Mr President, I wish to begin by saying that I warmly welcome the Commission’s communication on reducing the climate impact of aviation and that my report strongly supports the Commission’s position that a comprehensive package of measures is needed to address the full impact of aviation on the climate. I should also like to thank the shadow rapporteurs from the other political groups for their good work and collaboration.
It would also be impractical for aviation to join the general ETS before 2012. I do not think we can afford to wait another six years before we act, so good use could be made of the period 2008-2012 by running at least a pilot scheme. Any arrangement by which aviation was ultimately incorporated into a wider ETS would also need a cap on the number of emission rights the aviation sector could buy from the market to ensure that aviation itself begins to make some of these cuts.
Finally, if colleagues are in any doubt about the importance of a separate scheme, they should consider the words of a chief economist of British Airways, who admitted last week that if airlines joined the existing emissions trading system their emissions would simply continue to grow at an alarming rate: they would simply buy up the right to emit as ever, their own emissions would not go down, and we would still see aviation having a massive accountability for the climate crisis.
Therefore, I urge colleagues to vote for this report, which will send a very clear signal to the Commission and to the Council that Parliament is looking for ambitious but realistic proposals in this field.
The starting point for my report is that while aviation has brought a great many benefits to society, its current growth rate is completely unsustainable. Between 1990 and 2003, the EU’s international aviation emissions increased by 73%, corresponding to an annual growth of over 4%. At this rate the increased emissions from aviation will neutralise more than a quarter of the reductions required by the EU’s Kyoto target by 2012. Moreover, crucially, aviation’s total impact on the climate is estimated to be two to four times the CO2 impact, even without considering the potential effects of cirrus cloud enhancement.
Of course, the industry’s efforts to reduce its emissions are welcome. However, as Eurocontrol predicts, EU air traffic movements are set to more than double by 2020 compared to 2003. It is clear that rates of technological improvements – which historically run at about 1-2% per year – will be insufficient to offset this enormous growth.
It is clear then that action is urgently needed. International aviation is not subject to Kyoto or other commitments. Article 2(2) of the Kyoto Protocol urges states to pursue reduction of greenhouse gases from this source through the International Civil Aviation Organization, but there are currently no plans for a global solution here. That makes it vital that the EU shows leadership and exploits the advantages of laying down an example with early regional action. Council Conclusions of December 2005 reaffirm this, calling for ‘specific action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from aviation if no such action is agreed within the ICAO by 2002’.
I therefore welcome the communication’s recognition that we need this comprehensive package of measures, including regulatory, economic, technological and operational instruments. In particular, its plan to pursue the introduction of kerosene taxes is very important, given the existing imbalance between the treatment of aviation and other modes of transport. This should begin right away with a tax on all domestic and intra-EU flights – with the possibility of exemption for all carriers on routes where non-EU carriers operate. The ongoing renegotiations of air service agreements must continue so that third-country carriers can gradually be taxed on an equal basis with EU carriers.
Ending the VAT exemption would further level the playing field, and bring fiscal as well as environmental benefits. Colleagues will see that I have brought back an amendment to seek to achieve this.
Improvements in air traffic management could reduce average fuel burn by between 8% and 18%, with resultant decreases in all engine emissions.
All of these measures are necessary, but the main focus of the Commission’s proposals and therefore of my report is on emissions trading. I agree that it has the potential to play a role, but only provided any scheme is properly designed. First, it is clear that other policy instruments must be introduced alongside an emissions trading system to address the full climatic impact. Instruments directly linked to the impact in question, such as a NOx charge, would be most likely to induce the most efficient behaviour, although multipliers on CO2 emissions are an interim alternative. This is crucial, because if there is not a parallel emissions charge or multiplier formula to cover aviation’s non-CO2 impacts, the effect of buying the right to emit a tonne of CO2 from another sector with much lower non-CO2 impacts would actually be a net disbenefit to the environment.
Second, and crucially, a separate closed system for aviation is crucial at the very least as a pilot scheme because, apart from the administrative difficulties of including aviation in the EU’s general ETS, many sectors already in that scheme are concerned about the possible effect of aviation’s inclusion on carbon prices, noting that as a sheltered sector, aviation will be able tolerate higher prices than many others. There is a very real risk that excessive pressure on vulnerable, energy-intensive industries could lead to a loosening of the overall cap."@en1
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