Aerospace industry plans for carbon tax

Leaders of some of the most influential aerospace companies on both sides of the Atlantic have met to assess the effects of the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). 

 

And their response is to work with the International Civil Aviation Organisation to develop more efficient commercial jet aircraft and produce a global framework for reducing carbon emissions. 

 

“Aircraft manufacturers spend billions to make new aeroplane models more efficient,” said Dennis Muilenburg, Boeing’s defence, space and security president and chief executive. “Modernising air traffic management globally will make today’s existing fleets 12% more efficient – an enormous step forward in our quest to reduce fuel burn and emissions.” 

 

From next year, every flight into and out of the EU will incur a charge on its CO2 emissions, and this initially prompted the threat of a trade war (EP, Winter 2011/2, p3). 

 

David Hess, chairman of the Aerospace Industries Association and president of Pratt & Whitney, United Technologies Corporation, said: “Our industry is faced with a number of challenges, both home and abroad. This meeting was both productive and necessary to address the issue of the EU’s ETS. 

 

“A global problem requires a global solution for a global industry.”