Aviation is an important flagship sector in the climate crisis because of its societal role in connecting people across the globe and its huge per-capita climate impact. The carbon footprint of each flight someone takes is massive, especially for those who fly business or first class or those who take private jets.
Emissions from aviation have grown faster than for any other form of transportation in recent decades. Despite the temporary dip during the lockdowns and restrictions that accompanied the COVID-19 crisis, emissions from the sector are again close to pre-pandemic levels.
This is a manifestation of the inadequacy of global efforts to control aviation emissions. The main tool for tackling the sector’s carbon footprint is the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), run by the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), as part of its so-called carbon-neutral growth target.
However, this scheme is fundamentally flawed because it only deals with the growth in aviation emissions and it requires airlines only to offset some of the greenhouse gases they pump into the atmosphere rather than reduce them.
When it comes to international aviation, Carbon Market Watch focuses on:
Climate change requires turning up the heat on aviation
Climate change requires turning up the heat on aviation
Binding emissions reduction targets for airlines that are in line with the Paris Agreement
Raising the climate ambitions of airlines
Including aviation in domestic, regional and United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) policies
The creation of a global cap-and-trade emissions trading scheme for airlines
Expanding the EU ETS to all departing EEA flights, including those operated by US airlines, is crucial to generate much needed revenue and spark aviation’s green transition.
The International Civil Aviation Organisation hailed its Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) as a global, harmonised answer to aviation’s growing climate impact. Yet the reality is very different: patchy enforcement, limited coverage, and heavy reliance on problematic offsetting with carbon credits.
In this policy briefing, CMW presents the main findings and shares our policy recommendations for how the EU should consider aviation carbon pricing.
CMW commissioned environmental consultants Ricardo to produce this study comparing the functioning of the EU ETS and CORSIA, and their respective climate ambitions.
Here we explain the ins and outs of the UN’s Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) and why it is not fit to navigate airlines towards greener horizons.
International aviation emissions reached 80% of their pre-pandemic peak in 2022
sam.vandenplas[at]carbonmarketwatch.org
jenny.helle[at]carbonmarketwatch.org
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