Aviation collects its ETS boarding pass

The EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) has received a boost from an apparent shift in attitude by the airline industry that could lead to the inclusion of aviation emissions in the ETS

The European Commission hopes a resolution passed in October by the 190 member states of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) on capping emissions from international aviation has opened the door for talks on the EU's plan to include aviation emissions in the ETS by 2012.The issue has been the subject of a long-running dispute between the EU and airlines, which are unhappy that emissions generated from the whole route of a flight entering the EU would be counted against them, rather than just those produced in EU airspace. A number of US airlines have started legal challenges to the move. The key to the resolution is what it omits: it does not say the application of the EU ETS