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Preparing for Emissions Trading in Europe

On 2 February 2009, European Union legislation came into force incorporating aviation into the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) as from 2012. Virtually all airlines with operations to, from and within the EU fall under the scope of the directive, including non-EU airlines.

In preparation for aviation’s inclusion in the EU ETS, the European Commission (EC) has developed  guidelines for the monitoring and reporting of aviation activity data (tonne-kilometers and CO2 emissions).  Under the guidelines, airlines captured by the EU ETS must meet certain requirements. In summary, these airlines will have to

• Monitor tonne-kilometers and CO2 emissions from 1 January 2010
• Report tonne-kilometer data by 31 March 2011
• Report CO2 emissions data by 31 March 2011
• Apply for free emissions allowances by 31 March 2011
• Surrender allowances for 2012 emissions by 30 April 2013

Relevant legislation

• Inclusion of aviation in the EU ETS (Directive EC/2008/101) (pdf)
• Consolidated EU ETS Directive, including aviation (Dir EC/2003/87) (pdf)
• Detailed interpretation of aviation activities in Annex I (Decision 2009/450/EC) (pdf)
• General EU ETS monitoring and reporting guidelines (Decision 2007/589/EC) (pdf)
• Aviation monitoring and reporting guidelines (Decision 2009/339/EC) (pdf)

Need assistance?

• Please refer to our detailed Frequently Asked Questions or questions and answers:
  • Monitoring plans (pdf)
  • Tonne-kilometer monitoring and reporting (pdf)
  • Emissions monitoring and reporting (pdf)
• For other questions, please contact us at: environment@iata.org.

The information presented here is based on European Commission materials and is provided for guidance purposes only. For the latest information, and its applicability to your business, please refer to  the EC website and communications and to your own professional advisors.