The German Marshall Fund of the United States and the Heinrich Boell Foundation co-hosted an off-the-record event on greenhouse gas emissions from the international aviation sector. Greenhouse gas emissions from aviation are one of the fastest-growing sources of climate pollution, but they are currently unregulated. Since January 2012, the European Union has controversially included aviation emissions in the EU Emissions Trading System. This move is opposed by the United States and other countries, which favor a solution in the International Civil Aviation Organisation, the relevant standard-setting body. The event discussed the controversy and the risk of its escalation into a full-blown trade dispute, as well as ways to defuse the dispute and the possibilities for progress on reducing emissions from aviation.

The event served to launch a new GMF policy brief by Nigel Purvis (GMF Senior Fellow and President of Climate Advisers) and Sam Grausz (Climate Advisers) on “Air Supremacy: The Surprisingly Important Dogfight over Climate pollution from International Aviation”. Michael Mehling, President of Ecologic US, also presented a discussion draft of a paper that Ecologic is publishing on the same topic. The other speakers included Thomas J. White, Deputy Chief of Mission, U.S. Mission to the EU; Elina Bardram, Head of Unit – International Carbon Market, Aviation and Maritime, DG CLIMA, European Commission; and Sam Van den plas, Policy Officer for climate and energy, WWF European Policy Office. Bastion Hermisson, Director of the Heinrich Böll Foundation’s EU Office, moderated.  

Click here to listen to a GMF Podcast between Nigel Purvis and Samuel Grausz, discussing the impact of new European emissions regulations on U.S. airlines.