Emissions Targets For Aviation & Shipping "Slipping Away" At Copenhagen - Reuters

[hatrack]

With just two days left to reach a new U.N. climate change deal, negotiators say they are still a long way from agreeing targets for shipping and aviation, which together produce as much as 8 percent of the world's climate-warming emissions.

Japan, Saudi Arabia, China and the United States have been blamed for blocking progress on tackling emissions from the two sectors. Both industries have recently called for tough carbon-cutting goals, but talks have become bogged down over technicalities.

"Aviation and shipping have a great opportunity to contribute to fighting climate change, and the opportunity is slipping away," said Reinford Mwangonde, part of the Malawi delegation.

Sources in the talks say there is still no consensus on one of the most basic questions -- whether targets should be set in Copenhagen or next year by the two U.N. bodies that oversee the sectors -- the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Other conflicts include how to protect island nations, which are vulnerable to rising import costs.

EDIT

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5BF3X320091216

[fascisthunter]

1. as our planet slips way with it

[netsurfer2]

2. Aviation

"Aviation and shipping have a great opportunity to contribute to fighting climate change, and the opportunity is slipping away," said Reinford Mwangonde, part of the Malawi delegation.

When you look at the history of aircraft every new generation of airliners is more efficent than the previous. The new 787 built by Boeing is aorund 20% more fuel efficent than the aircraft it is meant to replace.

[Nihil]

3. You are looking at the wrong end of the pipeline ...

Few people would deny that new planes are more efficient than old ones
but the critical aspect is that there is NO (= ZERO) tax on aviation fuel,
largely due to the USA's deliberate policy of blocking any attempts to
bring a long overdue environmental charge in.

It is a trivial operation - speaking as someone who used to code in
additional taxes to flight prices for all manner of weird & wonderful
reasons - and it is particularly galling when you consider how quickly
the US jumped in to bully people for an immediate "9/11 tax" because
*they* wanted to impact every flight.

So yeah, new planes are a tiny part of the fix but taxing the use of
the existing fleet is the elephant in the room whose existence continues
to be denied by Obama's cohorts ("just continuing the old policies, etc.").

Change? JFDI or STFU.