An unpublished report written for the European Commission and seen by the Financial Times warns that “the aviation industry’s flagship carbon offsetting system risks being ineffective, poorly enforced and ‘undermining’ the EU’s climate policies”. The “highly critical analysis” was commissioned ahead of key decisions this summer on aviation in the EU’s regulated carbon market, the paper continues. The report says that the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (Corsia) was “unlikely to materially alter the direct climate impact associated with air travel” and may offer little better than a scenario “in which international aviation emissions remain unregulated”, the FT says. It adds: “The report, dated September 2020, was drawn up by several aviation and climate consultancy groups chosen by the commission, and obtained by campaign group Transport & Environment under a freedom of information request. It said that a reliance on Corsia, rather than an expansion of the scope of the ETS, risked ‘weakening current EU climate policies’. There was no guarantee that the carbon credits purchased by airlines to offset their emissions under Corsia would be of a high quality, meaning their effect would be questionable, it concluded.”

Guest post from Financial Times