Opening the global Aviation & Environment Summit in Geneva, Switzerland, SA tourism minister, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, slammed the European Union’s (EU's) emissions trading scheme (ETS).
The EU has unilaterally imposed its own ETS on all flights to and from Europe, regardless of the point of origin, destination or distance, he said.
The net effect is to tax those flights not just for the portion of time spent in EU skies, but also as they pass through the sovereign territory/airspace of non-EU countries.
For example, he noted, a flight from Johannesburg to London might route through the airspace belonging to SA, Botswana, Namibia, Angola, DRC, Congo-Brazzaville, Ghana, Nigeria, Chad and Algeria before entering European airspace.
While their airspace is being taxed by the EU, he added, its ETS makes no provision to re-invest any of the revenues collected into any of those non-EU countries whose skies are being taxed.
At this stage, the EU has not provided any indication of how it will use the revenues it generates to address climate change.
SA has joined China, the US, Australia, Russia and various other nations in protesting the EU ETS in its current form, Van Schalkwyk added.
The airline industry, led by the International Air Transport Association (Iata) together with its partners, including aircraft and engine manufacturers, are calling instead for an equitable global carbon emissions scheme to be implemented under the auspices of the UN's International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), which is the only body mandated to set global regulatory standards for civil aviation.
