Red lines drawn for global deal on emissions from aviation

191 nations to attend negotiations specifically meant to set a global pact for civil aviation sector, beyond Paris Agreement

The Union Cabinet has cleared the red lines for the Indian delegation that shall negotiate the global deal on greenhouse gas emissions from the aviation sector, starting September 27 in Montreal, Canada.

One hundred and ninety one member countries of the International Civil Aviation Organization, including India, will be attending the negotiations, which are specifically meant to set a global agreement for the civil aviation sector, above and beyond the Paris Agreement. The deal is likely to be called ‘Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation’.

India will pitch at the Montreal talks that developing countries be exempted till 2026 from the market-based mechanism to be deployed for offsetting greenhouse gas emissions from the aviation sector, starting 2020. It is also expected to ask for a mid-term review of the agreement and its operations before countries such as India are asked to join in.

Oddly, the environment ministry officials on climate change are not expected to be part of the delegation going to negotiate the emissions deal on civil aviation in Montreal.

Emissions from aviation are rising at one of the fastest pace among different sectors and are expected to reach as high as 25 per cent of the total emissions by 2050, by some estimates. The deal on the table at Montreal hopes to freeze the emission levels by 2020 and then used a market-based trading and offsetting mechanism to reduce emissions in the following period.

Some countries have pushed that the initial phase of the mechanism, starting 2020, be kept voluntary and mandatory application for all countries start in 2026. The European Union, which had once unilaterally imposed carbon tax on global aviation only to suspend it, is opposed to this voluntary phase. The US has shown its support for such a move, which would, in time, bring in developing countries such as India and China.

The proposal for a market-based offsetting mechanism has faced some flak from the global environmental organisations for using a softer route out rather than making substantial improvements in the aviation technology to actually reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But those pushing for the deal defend it, claiming the market-based offsetting mechanism is one in a bouquet of actions the aviation sector would take, including fuel efficiency, to minimise emissions.

In initial years of negotiations, India and China had both opposed separating out a deal on emissions from aviation sector. India had warned that the burden of reducing carbon emissions falls unfairly upon its travellers instead of those involved in the manufacturing for aviation sector and broke the principle of equity. But they have partly agreed to a market-based mechanism with strong conditions, such as deferred entry under the cap on emissions.

Consequently, the Paris Agreement does not cover the aviation sector, which has been left to the aviation-specific UN body to engage with. India is also expected to demand flexibility in how the emission reduction targets are dealt with when accounting for actions under the Paris Agreement.