UN body at centre of Emissions Trading Scheme storm

He is president of a UN agency, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). In 2010 it was given a mandate to find a global solution for the aviation industry to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions without hurting growth in the sector. However, airlines and governments have criticised Europe’s decision to extend the regional cap-and-trade scheme, the ETS, to airlines, bringing it into effect on 1 January 2012, well ahead of any global overarching policy decision by ICAO. The scheme charges airlines for their carbon emissions above a set cap. The industry is now focused on the UN body to end the stand-off with a global solution. However, Mr Gonzalez says ICAO, made up of 191 member states, will continue at the pace set out for it by its member nations, raising the prospect that a decision will be made after the first payments are due. “We will move as fast and as far as the states decide to. The states are the stakeholders of the organisation and they have to give us instructions,” he told the BBC on the sidelines of the Singapore Airshow.

Support Canada Free Press

VIEW Comments