presidential-pardon-gives-no-cost-airlines-the-all-clear

Carbon Market Watch asserts that CORSIA is a "phantom scheme" due to patchy enforcement and reliance on low-quality offsets. The author highlights that US airlines, including United, Delta, and American Airlines, are unlikely to pay for their emissions under CORSIA, especially under the Trump administration. Consequently, the document urges the EU to expand the EU ETS to all departing EEA flights to generate revenue for transport decarbonisation and ensure airlines are held accountable for their carbon pollution.

• CORSIA is described as a "phantom scheme" that is "deeply flawed" due to its reliance on low-quality offsets, limited coverage, and inconsistent enforcement.
• Based on ICAO data and a credit price of $15 per tonne of CO2, US airlines would owe $126.9 million for 2024 emissions under CORSIA, with United ($36.7M), Delta ($27.6M), and American Airlines ($25.2M) as the largest payers. However, if all emissions from covered flights were included instead of just growth above an 85% baseline of 2019 emissions, the cost would rise to $824 million.
• Applying the EU ETS average price of $80/tCO2 to all 2024 US airline emissions would have generated $4.39 billion in revenue, which is forty times the amount requested under CORSIA. This estimate still excludes the climate-warming effects of contrails.
• US enforcement of CORSIA is deemed unlikely because the US has not committed to the scheme beyond voluntary phases, refuses to act until markets like China and India participate, and the Trump administration is unlikely to impose penalties.
• Expanding the EU ETS to all flights departing from the EEA could generate an additional €9 billion annually by 2030 and approximately €259 billion between 2025 and 2040, providing funds for transport decarbonisation.

APA

Helle, J. (2026). presidential-pardon-gives-no-cost-airlines-the-all-clear. Carbon Market Watch. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2026/03/30/presidential-pardon-gives-no-cost-airlines-the-all-clear/

Chicago

Helle, Jenny. presidential-pardon-gives-no-cost-airlines-the-all-clear. Carbon Market Watch, 2026. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2026/03/30/presidential-pardon-gives-no-cost-airlines-the-all-clear/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Helle |first1=Jenny |title=presidential-pardon-gives-no-cost-airlines-the-all-clear |publisher=Carbon Market Watch |date=30 March 2026 |url=https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2026/03/30/presidential-pardon-gives-no-cost-airlines-the-all-clear/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{helle2026presidentialpardongivesnocostairlinestheallclear, author = {Helle, Jenny}, title = {{presidential-pardon-gives-no-cost-airlines-the-all-clear}}, publisher = {Carbon Market Watch}, year = {2026}, month = mar, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2026/03/30/presidential-pardon-gives-no-cost-airlines-the-all-clear/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }