Just as they had announced that they would, India and China are boycotting the EU’s decision to include aviation in its Emission Trading Scheme (ETS). The Chinese and Indian airlines have not handed in to the European Commission the details of their CO ₂ emissions caused by flights to or from the EU in 2011. The deadline was 31 March. Yet these figures are what will be used as a basis to calculate the quotas the transporters will later be allocated.

Ten airlines are concerned – eight in China and two in India – which, according to the Commission, represent less than 3% of aviation’s total emissions. These two countries had previously announced – China on 6 February, India on 22 March – that they had banned their airlines from participating in the ETS. These two countries are the exception since all the other countries have fulfilled their obligations – even the notorious opponents of the ETS, such as the US, Brazil and Russia.

Connie Hedegaard, the commissioner for climate action, said that she has extended the deadline for China and India by a month, bringing it to mid-June. If the two countries do not comply by then, different types of sanctions could be applied. Under EU legislation, refusing to participate in the ETS can warrant a ban on flying over the EU. Meanwhile, negotiations continue at an international level, via the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), in an attempt to reach an agreement on the establishment of a global mechanism to reduce CO ₂ emissions caused by aviation. “We are working very hard to do that,” Hedegaard commented. A meeting is to be held in June at the ICAO to examine various alternatives to the ETS mechanism.