EXPANDING GLOBAL TRADE FUELS POLLUTION CONCERNS

The need for action to stem the global warming impact of shipping and air-freighting goods around the world is increasingly coming to the fore.

The EU and the US recently clashed over the inclusion of aviation in carbon emissions trading at a meeting of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the UN's intergovernmental body for regulating civil air transport. Meanwhile, US environmental groups and the state of California are pushing for new regulations on greenhouse gas emissions from shipping, which would affect all vessels entering US territorial waters.

EU to include aviation in its emissions trading scheme

Brussels, which is a major champion of legally-binding measures to address climate change, has set up an emissions trading scheme as one of the main measures to reach its commitment reductions under the Kyoto Protocol. The scheme currently covers industry, with aviation set to be included potentially as early as 2010. The US opposes a scheme under which its airlines would have to pay up when landing in and departing from Europe.

The ICAO Assembly, which ended on 28 September, adopted a resolution calling for regional emissions trading schemes to be based on 'mutual consent' if and when applied to aircraft from non-members. In practice, this would require negotiating separate agreements with all third parties that have aircraft entering territory covered by the scheme. In an unprecedented move, the 42-member European group filed a written reservation allowing it to side-step this resolution, meaning the group is ready to go ahead with its emissions trading scheme - and that all aircraft entering its territory would have to participate. "Whilst Europe is committed to multilateral action to address the effects of aviation emissions, mutual agreement is not a pre-condition for the implementation of market-based measures," it said.

Referring to the differences over the reach of the European emissions trading scheme, C. Boyden Gray, Washington's ambassador to the EU, hinted that new charges on US airlines could lead to a WTO dispute, saying that "the Europeans are confident of their legal authority and people on the other side are equally confident of their position. It sounds like a lawsuit to me. I don't see how it's going to get resolved politically."

According to Grey, the EU should focus on stemming emissions from its own transportation system, "before sort of distracting everybody with airlines, which is a pretty small fraction, at the moment, of the transportation sector."

While the bulk of internationally traded goods are transported by water, roads and rail, aviation also plays an important role. Although the aviation sector contributes only around two percent of global carbon dioxide emissions, when indirect effects from other pollutants as well as cloud formation are considered, it accounts for up to nine percent of actual global warming. Aviation is also one of the fastest-growing transport sectors. Emissions have doubled since 1990 and are projected to further grow by 3.5 percent annually.

Environmental groups: Rules needed on shipping emissions

On 3 October, California Attorney-General Jerry Brown and a coalition of environmental groups simultaneously petitioned the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to take action to regulate emissions from marine shipping causing climate change.

The environmental groups Earthjustice, the Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Earth, and Oceana said that "the sheer number of these ships, coupled with operating practices that use fuel inefficiently and poor government oversight, results in carbon dioxide emissions" equal to "the emissions of 130 million to 195 million cars."

The petitions came in the wake of a US Supreme Court ruling in April this year, which confirmed that the EPA has the jurisdiction to regulate in the area of climate change. The current petitions are the first to be filed after the Supreme Court decision, and would affect global shipping operations. Even though potential EPA rules would apply to US territorial waters only, they would apply to all vessels operating there, regardless of their country of origin or country of flag. Tough rules in the US may also lead the country to push for tightened rules at the international level through the International Maritime Organisation.

The petition filed by the four environmental groups asked the EPA to act by "(1) requiring marine shipping vessels to meet emissions standards by operating in a fuel-efficient manner, using cleaner fuels, and/or employing technical controls, so as to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and black carbon, and (2) controlling the manufacture and sale of fuels used in marine shipping vessels by imposing fuel standards to reduce emission products that contribute to global warming."

According to the petition, marine vessels produce close to three percent of the world's greenhouse gases. The worldwide fleet of 90,000 ships transports 90 percent of the world's goods, and only six countries emit greater amounts of greenhouse gases. Shipping has grown by three percent annually on average over the last three decades, and shipping emissions are projected to grow by more than 70 percent by 2020, as global trade continues to expand.

The petition for regulatory action on greenhouse gas emissions from ships came shortly after a meeting of 16 major economies organised by US president Bush in Washington focused on voluntary measures to address global climate change.

The EPA will have to provide a response to the petition within six months.

For more information, see BRIDGES Trade BioRes: "US Says European Aviation Emissions Trading Scheme to End Up as WTO Dispute,"
and "Environmental Groups Push for Rules on Emissions from Shipping."

To view the petition by the environmental groups, see http://www.oceana.org/fileadmin/oceana/uploads/Climate_Change/Marine_GHG_Petition_FINAL.pdf.

ICTSD reporting; "US envoy: EU risks new trans-Atlantic trade fight by including airlines in emissions program," AP, 25 September 2007; "EU Clashes With US Over Airline Emissions Trade," REUTERS, 24 September 2007; "EU emissions trading plan set for takeoff despite transatlantic rift," EUROPEAN FEDERATION FOR TRANSPORT AND ENVIRONMENT RELEASE, 28 September 2007; "Aviation Industry Rejects Europe's Climate Emissions Trading System," ENS, 2 October 2007. "EPA Asked to Regulate Ship Emissions," AP, 3 October 2007; "Environmental Advocates Urge The EPA To Reduce Global Warming Pollution From Ships," OCEANA RELEASE, 3 October 2007; "E.P.A. Is Petitioned to Limit Ship Emissions," NEW YORK TIMES, 3 October 2007; "Shipping emissions are vastly underestimated," THE TIMES, 4 October 2007.