Europe lags behind US in new plans to tackle CO2 emissions from planes

Europe is calling for a considerably less ambitious carbon emissions standard for airplanes than the US in a new global push to reduce aviation's contribution to climate change. The standard would mark a turning point for efforts to regulate fast-growing emissions from airplanes, which are not covered by December's much-hailed Paris climate agreement. The milestone would apply to new models and existing aircraft put into production after 2020, but the EU's preferred version would be less stringent than alternative US proposals. Both blueprints have been filed with the ICAO ahead of talks in Montreal next month. The gap between the two proposals is greater than the annual emissions of most medium-sized European countries, and privately confirmed by EU officials. Aviation is responsible for around 5% of the world's global warming at present. <br/>