Estendere l’esenzione della tassa sull’inquinamento ai voli a lungo raggio, secondo quanto proposto dalla Commissione europea, metterà a rischio il raggiungimento dell’obiettivo di taglio delle emissioni nell’Ue. È quanto sostiene l’associazione ambientalista Carbon Market Watch secondo cui i target sarebbero fuori fase di almeno il 40% entro il 2030. Secondo Carbon Market Watch finirebbe per gonfiare l’Ets, già saturo, di almeno 300 milioni di quote. Secondo l’Organizzazione internazionale dell’aviazione civile, gli aerei sono responsabili di circa il 4,9 per cento di tutte le emissioni e senza un adeguato piano d’azione si potrebbe salire a oltre il 300 per cento entro il 2050.

The extension of the exemption from the pollution tax for long-haul flights, proposed by the European Commission, will put EU emissions decrease target at risk, an environmental watchdog said Friday. “Exempting international flights from the EU ETS [emissions trading system] erodes the bloc’s domestic climate target of at least 40% less emissions by 2030, because the target assumes that outgoing flights from Europe would be covered,” non-profit Carbon Market Watch said in a press release. The watchdog also said, citing the estimates of the European Commission, the exclusion would inflate the already over-saturated ETS by about 300 million allowances. The EU ETS auctions off the allowances for emissions or gives them out for free. Leftover emissions credits can be sold, while the entities that emit more than what their allotted share, have to purchase additional allowances. The system has been criticized for the oversupply of emissions, which muddles the calculations of the cap for the future and could lead to the ceiling being set too high. According to the International Civil Aviation Organization, aircraft were responsible for about 4.9 percent of all emissions and without proper action plan could skyrocket to 300 percent by 2050.