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CLIMATE SCIENCE
India says EU tax a 'deal breaker' for climate talks
by Staff Writers
New Delhi (AFP) April 11, 2012


India's environment minister said Wednesday that a European Union scheme to tax airlines for carbon emissions was "a deal breaker" ahead of global climate change talks, a warning rejected by the EU.

"I shall stick my neck out and say, for the environment ministry, yes the unilateral measure by the EU... is a deal breaker for the talks," Jayanthi Natarajan said in New Delhi.

"I strongly believe that as far as climate change discussions are concerned, this is unacceptable," said the environment minister, who is India's negotiating leader at global climate change talks.

Natarajan, speaking at a function organised by the Energy Resources Institute, said she had written a letter to EU Commissioner for Climate Change Connie Hedegaard demanding a reversal of the carbon tax on airlines.

Her statements were the toughest by India so far on the EU plan.

The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, dismissed the minister's warning and stressed that the system in place since January 1 seeks to encourage others to do the same in their countries.

"We do not share this opinion," Isaac Valero Ladron, Hedegaard's spokesman, said in Brussels.

"We do not see how the European initiative is a deal breaker. We believe that it aims to encourage similar systems to include aviation in efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions," he said.

He noted that the scheme will force the entire European aviation sector to reduce emissions but only affect Indian airlines that use airports in the 27-nation EU.

"Everybody says they want to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but some do not share this desire," the spokesman said.

"We know the Indian minister's position. It is not new," he added.

India last month barred its airlines from complying with the EU carbon tax scheme, joining China in resistance to plans that have caused a backlash among the EU's trading partners.

The EU imposed the carbon levy on air travel with effect from January 1, but no airline will face a bill until 2013 after this year's carbon emissions have been tallied.

The 27-nation EU has said the tax will help it achieve its goal of cutting emissions by 20 percent by 2020 and has vowed not to back down.

India has already said "the imposition of carbon tax does not arise" because Indian airlines will refuse to hand over their emissions data. China has also stopped its airlines from complying with the EU directive.

The two Asian giants have attacked the EU scheme, calling it a unilateral trade levy disguised as an attempt to fight climate change.

The EU asserts the cost for the airlines is manageable, calculating that the scheme could force the carriers to add between 4.0 euros ($5.50) and 24 euros to the price of a long-haul round-trip.

But industry insiders have expressed concern that the scheme could spark a trade war between the EU and the countries opposed to the tax.

At UN climate talks in Durban in December, countries set their sights on a new all-encompassing pact to slow climate change that for the first time would bring all major greenhouse-gas emitters under a single legal roof.

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Canada cuts CO2 emissions, but misses target
Ottawa (AFP) April 11, 2012 - Canada's greenhouse gas emissions fell steadily from a peak in 2007 to 692 megatons in 2010, but remain far above its original target, according to government data released Wednesday.

The National Inventory Report showed reductions in most sectors, including the oil and gas industry, amounting to a total 6.5 percent cut from 2005 levels while the economy grew.

Also, Canadian per capita emissions of the gases blamed for damaging Earth's fragile climate system remained at an historic low of 20.3 tons of carbon dioxide.

But Canada had agreed to much deeper cuts in CO2 emissions under the Kyoto Protocol, before it withdrew from the 1997 landmark treaty on global warming in December.

"Today's news demonstrates that our work to balance the need for a cleaner and healthier environment while protecting jobs and growth is working," Environment Minister Peter Kent said in a statement.

Under the Kyoto Protocol, Canada had agreed to cut C02 emissions 6.0 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. But emissions increased 17.5 percent above 1990 levels.

Saying the target agreed to by a previous Liberal administration was unattainable, Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government in 2010 unveiled its own measures aimed at curbing emissions, in line with US efforts.

Canada is now aiming for a new target of 607 megatons of carbon dioxide equivalent of total greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2020.

From 2009 to 2010, total emissions remained relatively steady.

Waste and agriculture sectors saw slight increases from 2007, while others fell.

Alberta and Ontario provinces, where Canada's oil sands and manufacturing base are located, respectively, produced the most emissions, followed by Quebec, Saskatchewan and British Columbia.



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Brazil stresses need for world consensus at Rio+20 meet
Brasilia, Brazil (AFP) April 10, 2012
The upcoming Rio conference on sustainable development must yield a commitment to manage the world economy in a way that respects the environment and fights poverty, a Brazilian official says. "I believe that Rio+20 will deliver the instruments to make sustainable development a paradigm for the economy, not just for the environment," Andre Correa do Lago, the host country's pointman for the ... read more


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