The sky's the limit

摘要

On 1 January 2012, the aviation industry in Europe will find itself, for the first time, subject to emissions restrictions when the industry is included in the European Union's Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS). Airlines have been given a certain amount of emissions allowances to cover flights in and out of the EU and if they exceed that quota, they will have to buy permits in the open market. This is a culture shock for the sector and the protests from airlines and governments outside the EU have been loud and long. The US Congress has sought to pass a law forbidding US airlines from complying with the requirements of the ETS, while the US Air Transport Association (ATA) took the EU to the European Court of Justice in an attempt to prevent the scheme applying to them.