International decision-making

The parties to the Kyoto Protocol agreed that they would strive to limit or reduce emissions from international air traffic and shipping by working through the worldwide umbrella organizations in the sector (ICAO and IMO).

The so-called Conference of the Parties (COP) and the meetings of the technical and scientific advisory bodies (SBSTA, SBI) are concerned with the implementation of the entire climate treaty ( United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change UNFCCC) and the negotiations for the next protocol period. The reduction of emissions from international air traffic and shipping has been discussed regularly in meetings, but because of the policies of the different parties no decisions have been taken on emissions from international traffic or on dealing with the matter in the next climate treaty period.

The International Civil Aviation Organization, ICAO, is an organisation under the UN which has 189 member countries. The technical provisions and those on air safety for civil aviation are based on the ICAO’s standards and recommendations, likewise the commercial rules for the sector. It has been slow to agree upon worldwide measures to reduce growth in carbon dioxide emissions from air traffic within the framework of the ICAO, because the policies of the various member countries towards air traffic and climate measures are very different. The climate committee of the ICAO, which meets every third year, will, however, discuss the organization's guidelines on airlines joining a voluntary emissions trading system in February 2007. The ICAO has previously been effective in making decisions, for example, on tightening the standards concerning emissions of nitrogen oxides. More on ICAO’s guidance and documents you can find here.
 
In Europe, the EU Commission has prepared legislation that would incorporate air traffic into emissions trading for fixed sources, which started in 2005. The Commission published its proposal for a directive on 20 December 2006, which would gradually bring air traffic within the scope of emissions trading. According to the latest information the trading scheme would start from 2012 including all flights departing and arriving in the EU area. According to the proposal, some of the allowances would be auctioned. The EU’s actions in its preparation of the directive are described on the EU's aviation and climate change pages which also has a link to the reports commissioned by the Commission.