World: Climate deal seen as a win for airlines, less so for Earth

The UN accord reached Thursday to clean up pollution from international aviation may cost airlines as much as $23.9b annually by 2035. The companies see it as a victory. The landmark deal brokered in Montreal creates a global system requiring airlines to compensate for emissions growth after 2020 by funding environmental initiatives. That spares carriers from exactly what they had pushed to avoid: a patchwork of regional environmental regulations that probably would have been even more costly. The accord is less of a win for the planet, at least in the eyes of environmentalists. The deal is voluntary for countries during the first six years. It covers only international flights, not domestic. Rather than forcing emission cuts, it allows airlines to increase pollution in exchange for buying credits that support renewable energy development, forest preservation and other environmental efforts. And while costs will run into the billions, the price per flight will be low enough that it may not impact airfares. “This agreement is a timid step in the right direction when we need to be sprinting,” said Greenpeace UK Chief Scientist Doug Parr. “The aviation industry has managed to get away for years with doing nothing about its growing carbon-emission problem, and now it’s giving itself even more years to do very little.’’ Exhaust from international flights accounts for about 2% of global greenhouse gases and is expected to triple by 2050. Airlines were left out of the Paris climate accord because of the challenge of divvying up responsibility for global routes. The deal reached in Montreal is the first international framework to regulate emissions from a single industry.<br/>