Approved an emissions agreement for air operators with Switzerland

On the path to the creation of a global carbon market, the Council of Ministers has approved the individualized allocation of emission allowances to air operators by 2020, within the framework of the EU and Switzerland regime, which now have the obligation to monitor and report emissions.

As reported by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition, the agreement also reflects the obligation of delivery of emission and free allocation.

The agreement has been adopted at the proposal of the Ministries for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge; Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, and Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation.

The move has political relevance as it is the first agreement of its kind reached by the EU, and may be the beginning of the road for the creation of a global carbon market, according to the Ministry.

With this measure, air routes between the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland become obliged to monitor and report emissions, as well as the delivery of allowances and free allocation.

The free allocation designates the air operators managed by Spain that have operated routes from the EEA to Switzerland in the years 2010 and 2014, reference years for the assignment of air operators in the period 2013-2020.

There are 13 operators that have been assigned a total of 39,309 emission rights for 2020, values that are the result of the application of the methodology established in European regulations, which has no discretionary margin, according to Miteco.

In January this year, the agreement reached between the EU and Switzerland to link the respective emissions trading schemes entered into force, implying in practice that allowances issued in one of the schemes are eligible in the other for compliance purposes.

Likewise, they are subject to sale between entities that participate in one or another regime.

This establishes a joint, wider market that maximizes the effectiveness of the instrument.

Due to the small size of Switzerland’s emissions trading system, there will be few consequences in Spanish, according to the Ministry.

Directive 2003/87/EC and Law 1/2005 set out the methodology to be applied to determine free allowances.

On Tuesday, the European Commission (EC) has proposed a reorganisation of air traffic management in the European Union to improve aviation efficiency and reduce pollutant emissions from a sector responsible for around 3.6% of the _CO2 released in the EU.

The initiative, which aims to contribute to the Commission’s goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050, proposes measures such as facilitating flights at optimal altitude, that aircraft avoid zigzagging between different air blocks or enabling a continuous and more efficient descent of aircraft, among other points.

Compared to optimal trajectories, the routes currently taken by aircraft in Europe – EU Member States and associated states such as Norway or Switzerland – account for an additional 6% of CO emissions.₂, a spill that could even reach up to 10%, according to the data handled by the Community Executive.

Source: The Vanguard