President Says Growth Makes Carbon Controls More Difficult

Though aviation-related carbon emissions make up but a fraction of gases believed to contribute to global warming, in many minds the reality is skewed by the high-visibility of commercial airliners -- a fact the International Civil Aviation Organization is well aware of.

ICAO members are meeting in Montreal this week to address the issue... which is made more complicated by an apparent boom in air travel across the globe, that is putting more airliners than ever in the skies.

"Growth in the number of flights are aggravating congestion in a number of places where facilities and systems already operate at full capacity," ICAO President Kobeh Gonzalez told The Canadian Press Tuesday, at the start of the 11-day session.

Representatives from ICAO's 190 member states aim to create structural and legal basis for implementing an emissions trading system... what some critics have referred to as a "scheme" in the past.

But Federal Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon says the days of ignoring the need for such a system are over.

"It does not seem long ago at all that the concept of emissions trading was a radical and highly controversial idea," he told the Assembly. "But look how far we have come in supporting the effectiveness of emissions trading as a general principle."

As ANN reported, transport ministers with the European Union approved such a trading plan earlier this year, that would require airlines to pay for the amount of carbon dioxide their aircraft put into the atmosphere. Airlines with room to spare under their alloted numbers would be allowed to trade those credits with carriers needing more wiggle room.

Cannon called on the ICAO delegates to support the organization's "continued pursuit of standards and guidance that we can all adopt."

At least one ICAO official reportedly believes such an agreement could be ironed out before the session ends next Friday... but that's an optimistic outlook by most measures.

Gonzalez also touched on the poor safety records in some regions of the world in his opening speech Tuesday, as well as the continued threat of terrorism.

FMI: www.icao.int