The conflict over aviation emissions: a case of retreating EU leadership

This research paper analyzes the European Union's struggle to include foreign airlines in its Emissions Trading System (EU-ETS) amid international resistance, arguing that the opposition is driven by political realism rather than policy design and warning that EU retreats could undermine its future regulatory credibility.

• Aviation emissions are rising rapidly, with EU emissions increasing by 94% from 1990 to 2011. The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) predicts that global aviation emissions will grow by 155% to 300% by 2036 relative to 2006 levels.
• Meaningful regulation of international aviation emissions via the ICAO is unlikely in the near term, meaning the EU will likely have to decide on its aviation Directive without a guaranteed global market-based mechanism by 2016.
• Opposition to including foreign airlines in the EU-ETS is based on political realism rather than the technical details of the policy. The authors suggest the EU should assert its sovereign right to regulate its own airspace to avoid setting a precedent that makes it vulnerable to external pressure in other extraterritorial regulatory areas.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2014). The conflict over aviation emissions: a case of retreating EU leadership. https://www.sei.org/publications/the-conflict-over-aviation-emissions-a-case-of-retreating-eu-leadership/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. The conflict over aviation emissions: a case of retreating EU leadership. 2014. https://www.sei.org/publications/the-conflict-over-aviation-emissions-a-case-of-retreating-eu-leadership/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=The conflict over aviation emissions: a case of retreating EU leadership |date=28 February 2014 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/the-conflict-over-aviation-emissions-a-case-of-retreating-eu-leadership/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2014conflict, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{The conflict over aviation emissions: a case of retreating EU leadership}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2014}, month = feb, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/the-conflict-over-aviation-emissions-a-case-of-retreating-eu-leadership/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }