China, the United States and 24 other nations backed a declaration on Wednesday urging that their airlines be exempted from the European Union’s Emissions Trading System.
The move at the International Civil Aviation Organization, an arm of the United Nations, is another challenge to environmental leadership by the European Union, which has failed in its efforts to get some of the biggest polluters in the developed world to adopt crucial parts of its agenda for tackling climate change.
The declaration said the European directive was “inconsistent with applicable international law” and that the signatory nations would work together to oppose it.
The declaration is not binding, but it does represent a shot across the bow, as it could lead to a formal dispute procedure through the international aviation organization.
Bloomberg NewsA charge for emissions? American carriers at Heathrow Airport in London.
In another challenge to the European Union’s plan to regulate emissions from the world’s airlines, 26 countries including China and the United States are backing a resolution urging that non-European airlines be exempted.
A debate on the resolution is anticipated on Wednesday at a meeting of the International Civil Aviation Organization, an arm of the United Nations, in Montreal.
A draft of the resolution viewed this week by The International Herald Tribune argues that European plan “poses major challenges and risks for aircraft operators.” It warns that other countries could introduce retaliatory rival measures, “bringing about a chaotic situation adversely affecting the sustainability of air transport.”
Under a law approved by the European Union three years ago, airlines landing at or taking off from any airport within a member nation starting on Jan. 1, 2012, must obtain a sufficient number of pollution permits under the union’s cap and trade system, the world’s largest.