The European Parliament has passed an agreement on changes to the EU's carbon regulations for the commercial aviation sector that will raise airline prices to address concerns about climate change.
The European Parliament and EU announced on Wednesday a plan that would change how airlines get permits from the EU. Airlines that offer flights within Europe must submit permits from the EU's carbon market to cover the emissions of their flights, but most of those permits are now granted for free.
A number of free CO 2 permits will be available from 2024 to 2030 for airlines that use sustainable aviation fuels SAF to partially compensate for the price difference between SAFs and kerosene-based aviation fuels.
Suncana Glavak, a lawmaker from Croatia and the lead negotiator for the EU parliament in crafting the plan, said we stand with the sector through the process of the green transition. Airlines for Europe said in a statement to Fox Business that they are extremely disappointed by the decision. They said the timeline is long before effective decarbonization solutions are available at the scale needed to be effective. The EU's emissions trading scheme ETS will likely have increased by a factor of five from 2012 to 2025, more than 5 billion Euros annually, according to the trade group.
Transport Environment, a green interest group, said the EU's decision to omit international flights from the new rules means there will be another decade of climate inaction because of EU governments cowardice, according to the group's aviation director Jo Dardenne.
Average European families will pay more for their CO 2 emissions than frequent long-haul flyers, Dardenne said.
Beginning in 2025, the EU's plan will require airlines to report other pollutants, including nitrogen oxides and soot particles. The EU is expected to add emissions to its carbon regulations in the year 2028.
The EU countries and the bloc's parliament must approve the law before the new regulatory scheme is finalized.