China opposes EU carbon emissions scheme

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has prohibited the country's airlines from taking part in the European Union’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), adding to the list of items likely to be discussed at the EU-China summit on February 14.

Under the ETS, all airlines entering the EU airspace have to comply with pollution limits. If those limits are exceeded, carriers are obliged to buy extra permits. Although the programme came into effect on 1 January, the EU has not started charging yet. However, all airlines using European airports have been already included in the scheme.

The dispute over the ETS application in aviation has been one of the main issues overshadowing EU-China relations in the past year. China’s authorities repeatedly urged the EU to drop the plan.

The European Commission has said, however, that the legislation will apply to all companies operating in Europe. The aviation carbon emission scheme has been opposed not only by China but also by more than twenty other countries, including the United States, India and Canada.

The ETS is most likely to be one of the major topics on the agenda of the upcoming China-EU Summit, which will take place in China next week. The dispute could be defused, however, if both sides agree to take account of so-called “equivalent measures” implemented by other countries, including China, to curb carbon emissions.


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