The European Commission will present a proposal by the end of this year to include all flights into and out of the European Union in its carbon trading scheme, rejecting US concerns, an official said today.
"We know the US is lobbying against this," said Lars Muller, an official from the Commission's environment division. "We are not inclined to give in."
Mr Muller was speaking at a climate change conference in Nairobi, where some 189 countries are meeting to discuss a united approach to tackle global warming.
"This will basically generate a level playing field for all airlines, all companies, which are flying to and from European airports, no matter what state they are coming from or where they are based," he said.
"We will try to demonstrate the workability of emissions trading in this sector and provide a model for further application worldwide." Including flights in the EU carbon market would add between zero and nine euros to the cost of flights, he said.
The Commission tabled a recommendation last year that all carriers taking off from an EU airport, regardless of nationality, be included in the scheme in an effort to curb increasing emissions of gases that cause global warming. Mr Muller's comments indicate a shift from the original recommendation, which did not include flights landing at EU airports.
"We are doing this without prior commitment for other states to do the same, but we will be covering emissions from flights to and from European airports," he said