Hoon and Miliband appoint
Environment Agency to police aviation emissions trading scheme
DEPARTMENT FOR
TRANSPORT News Release (031) issued by COI News Distribution
Service. 4 March 2009
A new scheme to
cap aviation emissions will be supervised in England and Wales by
the Environment Agency, Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon and Climate
Change Secretary Ed Miliband have announced.
The EU Emissions Trading scheme - which caps net CO2 emissions
from aviation at average 2004-06 levels - will come into force for
flights arriving and departing EU airports from 1 January 2012,
following agreement in Brussels in late 2008. The scheme, which
already applies to many ground-based industries, means that
businesses must buy allowances from other sectors to cover any
emissions above their allotted cap, encouraging greener aviation.
As regulator of the scheme, the independent Environment Agency
will ensure that operators appropriately monitor their emissions
in the lead-up to the start of the scheme and will be tasked with
ensuring that operators comply with the requirements of the
scheme. The Environment Agency, which will have the power to
issue fines to operators who do not comply with the scheme, will
be supported by expert advice from the Civil Aviation Authority.
In January it was announced that the Environment Agency and the
Civil Aviation Authority have also been tasked with ensuring that
expansion at Heathrow is achieved within strict noise and air
quality limits.
Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon said:
"We know that people want to fly and it would be wrong to
deny them the great social and economic benefits that aviation
brings. Our challenge is to balance that demand with
aviation's environmental impacts. Emissions trading is key to
meeting that challenge.
"The UK lobbied hard to get aviation included in the EU
Emissions Trading scheme. Now we must demonstrate to the rest of
the world that the scheme is an effective means of capping
aviation CO2 emissions so that we can progress towards a similar
global arrangement. I know that the Environment Agency, with the
advice of the Civil Aviation Authority, will ensure that the
scheme is properly enforced in the UK.
"Aircraft are already much greener and cleaner than they
were 30 years ago. Independent forecasts suggest that this trend
is set to continue and through ETS, our new 2050 target and our
work with the industry we are helping to drive this change along."
Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband said:
"The UK has the highest environmental standards for aviation
in the world and has been at the forefront of pushing through this
groundbreaking agreement. This European-wide scheme will
substantially cut carbon emissions across Europe, and provide real
incentives for airlines to play their part and make those reductions.
"The EU is showing real leadership by recognising that every
sector of industry must respond to the threat of climate change."
By making aircraft operators bear the financial cost of their
emissions, the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) encourages
aircraft operators to reduce their CO2 emissions through
investment in greener aircraft technology or developing the use of
alternative fuels.
Environment Agency Chairman Lord Chris Smith said:
"Including aviation in Europe's greenhouse gas
emissions trading scheme is an important first step in regulating
the emissions from aviation that contribute toward climate change.
"It is vital that the emissions from this sector are not
allowed to grow unchecked and that aviation contributes to meeting
our target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% by
2050. The Environment Agency operates the greenhouse gas emissions
trading scheme in England and Wales and with the inclusion of
aviation, we will continue to manage the system effectively."
Bringing aviation into the EU ETS is a key part of the
Government's policy of striking a balance between economic
and social benefits of aviation and its environment impacts. The
Government now plans to build on the EU ETS agreement by bringing
international pressure for wider aviation to be part of global
deal on climate change.
Separately, the Government has announced a new target to reduce
UK aviation emissions in 2050 below 2005 levels in absolute terms.
The aircraft industry, through its Sustainable Aviation
initiative, has already produced a roadmap setting out how this
target could be met. The Government has asked the Climate Change
Committee to advise on the best basis to take this forward.
The Department for Transport and the Department of Energy and
Climate Change, in partnership with the Scottish Government, Welsh
Assembly Government and the Northern Ireland Executive have today
begun a 10 week consultation on the regulations under which EU ETS
for aviation will operate in the UK. This provides an opportunity
for stakeholders to express their views on the proposed
arrangements for how the scheme will operate. This will inform
legislation that the Government intends to lay before Parliament
in July. The consultation can be accessed on the DECC website at:
http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/consultations/consultations.aspx
Notes to Editors
1. The Environment Agency (EA) is already established as UK
regulator of the wider emissions trading scheme. As such, the
Agency has a wealth of knowledge about ETS implementation and has
the relevant systems established to deal with the administration
of the scheme.
2. The EA will be supported in this role by the Civil Aviation
Authority (CAA). The CAA is the specialist regulator for the
aviation industry, and will provide the necessary aviation
expertise to the EA.
3. The EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) was established under
the European Directive 2003/87/EC which entered into force on 25
October 2003. The scheme is central to enabling the EU to achieve
its stated goal of reducing emissions by 20% in 2020 compared to
1990 levels.
4. The working level agreement was put before the European
Parliament on 8 July and the package was formally adopted at the
Council on 24 October 2008. The Directive to include aviation in
the EU ETS (2008/101/EC), which amends the existing EU ETS
Directive (2003/87/EC), was published in the Official Journal of
the European Union on 13 January 2009 and will enter into force on
2 February 2009.
5. The proposal to include aviation in the EU ETS is strongly
supported by the UK Government, as made clear in the Future of Air
Transport White Paper (2003) as it is seen as the most effective
and cost efficient policy to ensure aviation meets the full cost
of its climate change emissions.
6. Emissions Trading is a devolved matter. We expect that the
Scottish and Northern Irish ministers will shortly be appointing
the Scottish Environment and Protection Agency and the Northern
Ireland Environment Agency respectively as aviation ETS regulators
in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Public Enquiries: 020 7944 8300
Department for Transport
Website: http://www.dft.gov.uk