Who is excluded from the obligation to measure non-CO2 emissions of airline flights

According to the Agreement on the Emissions Trading System of the European Union (eng EU ETS agreement), all airlines operating in Europe, whether they are European or not, are required to monitor, report, and also verify their emissions and submit for emission permits.

As previously reported by the world media, airlines were divided regarding the new rules of the European Union on monitoring emissions other than CO2.

For the sake of clarification, non-CO2 emissions, i.e. the term non-CO2, refers to those gases and particles emitted by airplanes that are not carbon dioxide. This includes, for example, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide (NOx), which contribute to the formation of ozone in the atmosphere and condensation trails. According to the information published on the website Transport & Environmentthe European Aviation Safety Agency in a 2020 report pointed out that non-CO2 effects can have up to three times stronger negative impacts than CO2 emissions.

Taking into consideration, Transport & Environment presented the information that the European Commission, due to pressure from traditional airlines, excluded long-haul flights from the agreement reached by the EU ETS Agreement. This means that non-CO2 emissions from the aircraft will not be monitored on such flights. More precisely, we will not get a complete picture of how much aircraft emissions really contribute to climate change, considering that about 67 percent of these emissions will be excluded in this way.

Under the original agreement, all flights with a non-CO2 emissions monitoring scheme were supposed to start from January 2025, but with the new decision, the mentioned flights will be excluded from this date. The start of monitoring these emissions from long flights will begin only in two years.

Transport & Environmentcalled on the European Commission to change its decision on the exclusion of long-haul flights, because it is contrary to the EU ETS Agreement and because such a delay will have multiple negative consequences.

Katarina Vuinac