No EU Corsia offsetting expected for 2021

The European Commission is now "pretty sure" there will be no offsetting required by the EU under the UN International Civil Aviation Organisation's (ICAO) Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (Corsia).

The European Parliament will have a first plenary debate tomorrow on its package of measures aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the bloc by 55pc by 2030 compared with 1990 levels. One of the measures presented in the package in July was a proposal to add a paragraph to the directive governing the EU emissions trading system (ETS), whereby member states have until 30 November 2022 to notify aircraft operators that they have "zero" offsetting for 2021.

Together with carbon offsetting under Corsia, sustainable aviation fuels are projected to provide over 40pc of the entire emissions reduction potential by 2050, according to trade association Airlines for Europe.

The commission estimates that there would not be any Corsia offsetting requirements in 2021-23, but said there should be a legal obligation for member states to notify offsetting figures to EU-based airlines for 2021 emissions.

Beatriz Yordi Aguirre, director of European and international carbon markets at the commission's directorate-general for climate action, said the commission is "pretty sure" there will be no need to offset EU airline emissions under Corsia in 2021 "because of the Covid-19 crisis".

Corsia requires countries to oblige their airlines to offset CO2 emissions exceeding relevant baselines with international carbon credits. The ICAO council last year decided that 2019 emissions should be used as the baseline for 2021-23, instead of average 2019-20 emissions, owing to the effects of the pandemic.

Yordi Aguirre told the parliament's environment committee last week that the commission sticks by its conditions for using Corsia offsets, such as countries avoiding double-counting and committing to the Paris climate agreement.

"No way we'll have double-counting. And from 2027, countries need to have committed to Corsia," she said. She also defended only reaching the full auctioning of EU ETS allowances for intra-EU flights by 2027. Airlines currently receive a proportion of their permits under the system free each year.

By Dafydd ab Iago