While the climate law must be presented this Monday morning at the Palais Bourbon, two European NGOs Carbon Market Watch and Transport & Environment (T&E), publish an estimate of the CO2 emissions produced by the main airlines of the old continent.
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In first place is the German Lufthansa, which emitted more than 19 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2019 followed by British Airways at 18.38 million and Air France, 14.39 million according to the two organizations.
Note that for the latter is not taken into account KLM.
The Dutch brand is in fifth place, being the source of just over ten million tonnes of CO2.
For the NGOs, the differences in the pollution discharged can be explained by the greater exposure of major carriers to international flights, which is the source of the majority of emissions.
These international flights are not subject to the carbon emission market system, set up within the EU, which obliges companies to compensate part of the negative externalities linked to pollution.
It only works for flights within a country or between members of the European Union.
In fact "
in the case of Lufthansa, British Airways and Air France, companies do not spend a cent respectively for 77%, 86% and 83% of their emissions
" criticizes the report.
That could quickly change.
Next June, the European Commission will have to decide whether to enforce the same legislation for flights entering or leaving Europe.
But a similar initiative in 2008 had not been adopted.
A sector on a drip
NGOs put into perspective the refusal of heavier taxation and the amount of aid received by the airline, particularly affected by the Covid crisis.
According to the Lufthansa report, British Airways and Air France have received nearly 16.4 billion euros in aid.
“
A third of airline subsidies go to the three most polluting carriers
,” condemns Andrew Murphy, head of aviation at T&E, who calls for a change in policy: “
After spending the last 12 months watering them down. aid,
governments must change their minds and focus on greening the sector.
Make airlines pay for emissions on all their flights, and start using cleaner fuels.
"
For their part, the manufacturers indicate that they are already making efforts to reduce their carbon footprint, in particular through the purchase of new generation Neo-type devices, capable of reducing pollution by 25% while they continue to work on the green plane.
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