Stopping the clock on emissions from air travel: what's the buzz?

The document discusses the tension between the EU's unilateral inclusion of international aviation in its Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) and the need for a global agreement via ICAO. It warns against the use of low-quality offset credits, specifically industrial gas offsets and non-additional CDM credits, arguing that any global mechanism must prioritize real, permanent, and verified emissions reductions over supplementary offsets.

• International aviation is responsible for 4.9% of man-made global warming, yet the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has failed to make substantial progress on mitigation since the Kyoto Protocol.
• To facilitate a global deal by September 2013, the European Commission proposed deferring EU ETS compliance for international flights to and from Europe by one year.
• The EU ETS aviation cap for 2012 was 212 million tonnes, with airlines permitted to offset up to 15% of their allowances (approximately 32 million offsets).
• Industrial gas offset credits from India and China are criticized as artificially inflated and not representing real reductions, leading the EU to implement a ban on them effective May 2013.
• There are significant quality concerns regarding Kyoto flexible mechanisms: an estimated two-thirds of CDM credits expected between 2013 and 2020 (roughly 3.6 billion tonnes of CO2-eq) may be non-additional, and 95% of JI credits were issued without international oversight.

APA

CMW (2013). Stopping the clock on emissions from air travel: what's the buzz? Carbon Market Watch. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2013/03/04/stopping-the-clock-on-emissions-from-air-travel-whats-the-buzz/

Chicago

CMW. Stopping the clock on emissions from air travel: what's the buzz? Carbon Market Watch, 2013. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2013/03/04/stopping-the-clock-on-emissions-from-air-travel-whats-the-buzz/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=CMW |title=Stopping the clock on emissions from air travel: what's the buzz? |publisher=Carbon Market Watch |date=4 March 2013 |url=https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2013/03/04/stopping-the-clock-on-emissions-from-air-travel-whats-the-buzz/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{cmw2013stopping, author = {CMW}, title = {{Stopping the clock on emissions from air travel: what's the buzz?}}, publisher = {Carbon Market Watch}, year = {2013}, month = mar, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2013/03/04/stopping-the-clock-on-emissions-from-air-travel-whats-the-buzz/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }