Carbon emissions reductions in aviation

Across the world, human-induced climate change has prompted the adoption of measures intended to reduce our CO2 footprint. Shipping and aviation were initially exempt from these measures but, over the last decades, international authorities’ views have shifted and these sectors are no longer exempted.

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from international aviation rose rapidly in recent decades. The sector now contributes to around four per cent of the European Union’s total GHG emissions and, as predicted by the International Civil Aviation organisation (ICAO), international aviation emissions could triple by 2050, in comparison to 2015.

The last decade has seen the EU and the global aviation community pool resources to construct a decarbonisation pathway for the sector, with some of the regulatory tools being the European Trading Scheme (ETS), Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) and the proposed ReFuelEU and Energy Taxation Directives.

What is the ETS?

The EU’s European Trading Scheme is a cap-and-trade scheme intended to cost-effectively limit GHG emissions across key sectors such as power generation, energy-intensive industries and aviation.