The viability of business aviation’s continued participation in Europe’s controversial emissions trading scheme (ETS) should be decided at a meeting of Eurocontrol’s air navigation services board on May 6. The air traffic management agency is due to decide whether or not to back the development of the EU ETS support facility that would give operators a relatively cost-effective way to meet the requirement to monitor, report and verify (MRV) their carbon emissions.
The European Business Aviation Association (EBAA) has warned that unless this tool is available, operators will face unacceptably high costs associated with having to pay independent verifiers to confirm their emissions data. Many business aircraft operators indicated that they would be using the EU ETS support facility when they registered their MRV plans with European authorities and if this option is blocked they will have to reconsider how they can comply with ETS.