On January 1, business aircraft operators around the world are set to start participating in a new carbon offsetting scheme designed by ICAO. The Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) is expected to see a smooth introduction, contrasting markedly with the controversy that beset the European Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) when it started to apply to aviation.
ETS will still run, while the EU satisfies itself that CORSIA is a viable replacement, but the so-called “stop the clock” period, whereby only domestic European operations are affected, has been extended.
According to Bruce Parry, environment director for the International Business Aviation Council (IBAC), ICAO has provided a range of CORSIA templates to address concerns that small operators—often with a single aircraft—simply do not have the resources to administer complex schemes. An example is the CORSIA Emissions Reporting Tool (CERT).
Also to reduce the administrative impact on the industry, IBAC and its member business aviation associations have ensured operators are made aware of emissions and exemptions and provided an online “ready reckoner” so operators can quickly assess whether they are likely to ultimately need to take part and pay for offsets.
“If you’re in the exemption zone, you don’t need to do any reporting,” said Parry, the small operator threshold being 10,000 metric tons of CO2 per year and aircraft with less than a 5,700-kg/12,566-pound mtow. NBAA says current-generation business jet fleets need to fly a combined 2,000 hours or more annually in international operations to reach the CO2 threshold.
“If you use more than one million U.S. gallons of fuel a year, you are likely to be in the scheme," according to Parry. "We’re saying that if you’re within 10 percent of the threshold, you need to engage with your national administering authority,” such as the FAA in the U.S. and the Environment Agency in the UK.
With 2019 and 2020 being “benchmarking” years, 2021 will mark the start of the first three-year offsetting period. After that, operators will be required to buy carbon offsets on the international market. The scheme becomes mandatory Jan. 1, 2027. Parry advised that operators concern themselves with monitoring now and leave offsetting until later.
Juan Muniz, manager of global regulatory services for Universal Weather and Aviation, told AIN, “Everyone needs to monitor and track [their emissions] even though it will only be applicable to larger operators.”
Starting January 1, business aircraft operators around the world start participating in a new carbon offsetting scheme designed by ICAO. The Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) is expected to see a smooth introduction, contrasting markedly with the controversy that beset the European Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) when it started to apply to aviation.
ETS will still run, while the EU satisfies itself that CORSIA is a viable replacement, but the so-called “Stop the Clock” period, whereby only domestic European operations are affected, has been extended. This was started following an uproar among countries, led by the U.S., appalled at the extraterritorial nature of EU ETS on aviation.
According to Bruce Parry, environment director for the International Business Aviation Council (IBAC) for CORSIA, ICAO has provided a range of templates to address concerns that small operators (often with a single aircraft) simply do not have the resources to administer complex schemes. An example is CERT (CORSIA Emissions Reporting Tool).
Also to reduce the administrative impact on the industry, IBAC and its member business aviation associations have ensured operators are made aware of emissions and exemptions and provided an online “ready reckoner” so operators can quickly assess whether they are likely to ultimately need to take part and pay for offsets. This is a Powerpoint slide on the IBAC website allowing operators to see if they are “in or out” of the scheme based on aircraft size and usage level.
“If you’re in the exemption zone, you don’t need to do any reporting,” said Parry, the small operator threshold being 10,000 tonnes of CO2 per year and aircraft with maximum takeoff mass of less than 5,700 kg (12,566 pounds). NBAA says current-generation business jet fleets need to fly a combined 2,000 hours or more annually in international operations to reach the 10,000-tonne threshold. Parry added that another useful guide is, “If you use more than 1 million U.S. gallons of fuel a year, you are likely to be in the scheme.”
“We’re saying that if you’re within 10 percent of the threshold you need to engage with your national administering authority.” Those are the FAA in the U.S., the Environment Agency in the UK, and so on.
IBAC and EBAA, said Parry, “recommend that whoever deals with fuel in the [small operator] should run the emissions monitoring scheme.”
“We’re talking about lots more operators with CORSIA than ETS,” noted Parry. “Including the U.S., the Middle East…74 ICAO members in total” and even some countries with exemptions, such as Mexico, have opted to participate voluntarily.
With 2019 and 2020 “benchmarking” years, 2021 will mark the start of the first three-year offsetting period, after which operators will be required to buy carbon offsets on the international market. The scheme is set to become mandatory on January 1, 2027. Parry advised that operators concern themselves with monitoring now and leave the offsetting until later.
“ICAO need to be congratulated as they’ve done this in a very short period of time and have acknowledged the administrative burden on smaller operators,” he said.
Juan Muniz, manager global regulatory services for Universal Weather and Aviation, told AIN, “Everyone needs to monitor and track [their emissions] even though it will only be applicable to larger operators.” He noted the CERT tool has an API to UWA’s system, and added that “there is confusion over who it applies to” still. He suggested the plan is not popular, particularly among European operators who will have ETS, CORSIA, and in some cases Swiss ETS to administer. He said, “There is no consensus yet on how the trading is eventually going to work,” concluding, “The associations [EBAA, NBAA, IBAC etc] have stayed well on top of this.”