Air carbon permit fight escalates

London: The battle against the European Union’s plans to charge the world’s biggest airlines for their carbon pollution is poised to escalate this week as the US, China and two dozen other countries take their case to the international body that sets global air standards
The 26 countries, including Russia, India and Japan, will tell the International Civil Aviation Organization (Icao) that the EU measure “violates the cardinal principle of state sovereignty” enshrined by international air agreements since the second world war.
More
Their ?action paves the way for a rare formal dispute to be launched in Icao, United Nations agency headquartered in Montreal.
The EU’s inclusion of aviation in its six-year-old emissions trading scheme from January will “curb the sustainable growth of international aviation”, the 26 countries claim, in a paper prepared for a meeting of Icao’s governing council that starts on Monday.
That could also prompt other countries to introduce “competing schemes”, the countries say, “bringing about a chaotic situation adversely affecting the sustainability of air transport”.
One of the last big disputes before Icao was also over an EU environmental measure: a 1999 decision to clamp down on aircraft noise that the US said unfairly favoured European-built Airbus aircraft over older US Boeing jets.
While Icao cannot force the EU to ditch its plans, it can be used in order to apply further pressure to Brussels in regard to its boldest move to date to force countries outside Europe to abide by its carbon pollution rules.
30/10/11 Pilita Clark/Financial Times

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Foreign Oct 2011, Indian Aviation- In General Oct 2011