World: Airline watchdog said to weigh 2 forest credits for offsets

The ICAO is considering new rules that would require airlines to buy two forest-protection emission credits for each metric ton of carbon dioxide, double the typical amount, amid concern over the permits’ environmental credibility, according to two people with direct knowledge of negotiations. As the UN-overseen regulator builds the first global emissions market for the industry from 2020, it wants to include forest-protection credits to get a wide range of supply. It’s also accounting for the fact that some see the offsets as less rigorous than other types of credits, said the people, who asked not to be identified because some of the discussions are private. The aviation regulator agreed in 2013 to create its own global trading system after the European Union scaled back expansion plans for its market, the world’s biggest, that would have covered international flights. ICAO’s program may become a financial lifeline to emission-reduction projects from wind parks to industrial-gas destruction after both the US and EU said they weren’t planning to use international credits as part of a global deal to fight climate change from 2020. Anthony Philbin, an ICAO spokesman in Montreal, declined to comment on the potential rules, including forest credits, in the regulator’s planned market. “The aviation market-based mechanism is still subject to further deliberation and decision by our member states, notably at the high-level meeting we’re holding for all of them from 11-13 May,” in Montreal, he said.<br/>