Bridges Trade BioRes • Volume 4 • Number 22 • 3rd December 2004

European Parliament Calls for Aviation to be Included in Kyoto

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The European Parliament presented a resolution this week calling for the inclusion of aviation and shipping within the Kyoto Protocol. The Parliament has urged the European Commission, the executive body of the European Union, to bring up the so-called “wish list” at the Tenth Climate Conference on Global Warming (COP-10) being held on 6-17 December in Buenos Aires, Argentina and in particular to press Kyoto signatories into “incorporating emissions from international flights and shipping into the emission reduction targets of the second commitment period from 2012.” International aviation and shipping are currently excluded from the Protocol, which is set to take effect in February (see BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 19 November 2004), despite the fact that international flights account for at least 3.5 percent of global emissions of greenhouse gases. “The only reason why planes and ships were not included in Kyoto is that the political will was lacking,” Karsten Krause, policy officer at Transport & Environment, a federation of organisations working for sustainable transport, told IPS. “The subject would have made negotiations too difficult.”

Civil society groups responded positively to the European Parliament’s proposal but were doubtful about tangible results given the difficulty of regulating transnational flights and significant industry interests. According to Friends of the Earth International, between 1995 and 2020 transport demand will increase 55 percent that could contribute “an even greater share to global greenhouse gas emissions if no action is taken”.

The proposal is available here.

ICTSD Reporting; “New Take-Off Proposed for Kyoto,” IPS, 29 November 2004.