The UK government has launched a consultation on how to balance coverage of aviation emissions between its emissions trading scheme (ETS) and the UN's Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (Corsia).
One option being considered by the government is to apply solely the UK ETS to flights leaving the UK to the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland. Corsia would apply to all other international flights from the UK.
This would entail no changes to the UK ETS as it is currently structured, and would be "administratively simple to deliver and comply with", the government said.
But it would mean not fully implementing Corsia as intended. And as Corsia administration obligations lie with an operator's state, any exemptions to the scheme set by the UK government would only apply to those operators attributed to the UK.
The other option under consideration is to apply both the UK ETS and Corsia to these flights, and then compensate operators for the cost of their Corsia compliance, to avoid double-charging for the same emissions. Airlines would be compensated retrospectively following the three-yearly Corsia compliance deadline.
This compensation could be financial, or in the form of either UK ETS allowances or reduced UK ETS obligations. The latter would require consideration of UK ETS supply adjustments to account for lower demand from the aviation sector, the government said.
Applying both schemes would keep the covered flights fully compliant with Corsia, but could impact supply and prices in the UK ETS depending on how compensation is delivered, the government said. And the need to determine the costs incurred by operators under Corsia could also increase administrative burdens.
The consultation is open until 10 February 2025.
