Responding to criticism that the European Union had watered down a global agreement on reducing airline emissions, Violeta Bulc, the Slovenian commissioner responsible for EU transport policy, has stated to a UK newspaper that reaching a first historic global deal would demonstrate that similar accords are possible for other sectors. “I believe if we get this deal going, we will get many other sectoral deals going,” Bulc said. “That’s why this 2 per cent is a big 2 per cent.”
The aviation sector produces around 2 per cent of global emissions but has been left out of other global environmental change deals. A global aviation emission deal is due to be finalized at an ICAO meeting soon. The deal on the table states that the aviation sector will be required to offset carbon emissions in order to maintain the sector’s emissions at current levels, even though emissions are expected to quadruple during the 21st century unless action is taken. The terms are also likely to be voluntary until 2027.