‘Emissions trading scheme will stunt SA airline industry growth’q

The implementation by the European Union of an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) will negatively impact on the growth, sustainability and profitability of South Africa’s airline, tourism and hospitality industries, according to the International Air Transport Association. Iata last week urged the EU to abandon its plans to include aviation in the EU ETS, set to begin in 2012. While Iata reiterated the air transport industry’s commitment to reducing CO2 emissions, describing the EU plan as misguided, it invited governments to join industry as committed partners in a global approach to reducing aviation’s carbon emissions that could also include a global ETS or other compensation measures. “Iata is not opposed to emissions trading,” said Iata director-general and CEO Tony Tyler. “We support the concept as a possible mechanism for the fourth pillar of our environment strategy. But the EU’s unilateral and regional approach to ETS could not be more misguided. It is distracting governments from focusing on the real solution – a global approach through Icao,” he said. Commenting on the impact for South Africa, he added: “In terms of the EU ETS, all flights to, from and over Europe will be charged/penalised for the entire distance of the flight from point of departure to point of arrival. An airline operating a flight from Johannesburg to London, for example, will have to pay the EU for the emissions on the total distance of the 10-hour-long flight, even though it would probably only be in EU airspace for about two hours. “There is also no evidence that the EU will use the collected revenues to address climate change, let alone to assist African nations improve the environmental efficiency of their air transport infrastructure.”