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European airlines sidestep efforts to curb emissions

Charlotte Ryan

Europe’s biggest airlines are seeking to deflect moves to tighten carbon curbs by favouring an increasingly discredited offsetting programme, says climate watchdog InfluenceMap.

Carriers are pushing to retain the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (Corsia) over the EU’s more rigorous Emissions Trading System, the think-tank said on Thursday. While Corsia was developed by the UN mandated International Civil Aviation Organisation, a recent EU report said offsets are too cheaply priced to act as a brake on emissions.

Meanwhile, aircraft maker Airbus told EU officials in February that hydrogen-powered aircraft with 150 seats or more are unlikely to feature until 2050, according to a presentation obtained by InfluenceMap via a freedom of information request.

Carriers are also urging the EU to delay moves to sustainable aviation fuel, it said, with Air France-KLM backing compulsory use only as technology matures, Deutsche Lufthansa claiming competitiveness issues, and British Airways owner IAG saying it should be required only for intra-Europe flights.

The International Air Transport Association said the report is a distortion of “genuine and long-standing sustainability efforts”, while A4E, which represents Europe’s leading airlines, said it fails to reflect the actions and investments of a sector contributing 2.4% of emissions.

The dissection of the aviation industry’s stance on carbon curbs highlights how pressure to accelerate efforts to meet increasingly tougher climate goals has ratcheted up. While carmakers and some industrial sectors have made strides in slashing emissions, airlines face a tougher challenge given the energy expenditure required to get passenger jets airborne.

Airlines are also using the coronavirus crisis, which has roiled air travel, in an effort to delay taxes designed to push them into reducing emissions, said InfluenceMap. It researched Europe’s 10 largest operators, together with Airbus, Boeing and leading trade groups. Only EasyJet has shown “more positive engagement” with the issue.

Airbus said last September it was working on three concepts for a hydrogen-powered plane that could enter service from 2035, including a traditional turbofan model designed to carry 120 to 200 passengers.

According to the EU submission published by InfluenceMap, it could take until 2040 for aircraft with 100 to 150 seats — below the size of a standard Airbus A320 or Boeing 737 — to be deployed with electric or hydrogen power, while a midranger of up to 250 seats is unlikely to use hydrogen until 2050.

Only 50 to 100 seat regional aircraft will be ready for hydrogen in the 2030s, the submission to European Commission vice-president and climate chief Frans Timmermans says.

Airbus said decisive joint actions are required by governments and industry to develop green technologies. In the shorter term, a reduction in emissions could be achieved by helping airlines fund a switch to new planes using 25% less fuel.

IAG said it had supported the EU’s Emissions Trading System since its conception in 2008, but that with Europe producing only a small proportion of emissions, a global programme such as Corsia was needed.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

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2021-06-11T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-06-11T07:00:00.0000000Z

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