Verifiability of Reporting Aviation’s non-CO2 Effects in EU-ETS and CORSIA

Abstract

The EU Emissions Trading System (EU-ETS) and CORSIA (Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation) are introduced or planned market-based measures (MBM) in aviation to reduce CO2 emissions. As the amount of CO2 emissions is proportional to the fuel consumption, monitoring, it is relatively straight forward to monitor, to report and to verificate (MRV) these instruments. In a new or revised MBM that would also take into account non-CO2 effects from air transportation, additional MRV efforts would become necessary, which will largely depend on the actually chosen calculation methodology. This report collects the required database and assesses the additional administrative burden for three different calculation methods: (1) a relatively simple distance dependent CO2 equivalence (eqCO2) factor, (2) a climatological latitude-height dependent eqCO2 factor and (3)a detailed weather and spatial dependent eqCO2 factor. Greater accuracy in considering the relevant atmospheric processes will lead to greater benefits for climate protection. However, more accurate eqCO2 approaches require more data for MRV. The use of a distance-dependent factor, for example, is not suitable for emissions trading because it does not create incentives for airlines to reduce their climate impact of CO2 and non-CO2 effects. If a latitude-height dependent eqCO2 is applied, the competent authority (CA) would require 3D emission inventories to check the non-CO2 emissions reported by the operator, which would result in substantially more administrative effort and the need for tools to model and verify the reported emissions as fuel consumption and the exact waypoints would not be immediately available to the CA. The administrative burden would increase further if detailed weather information is necessary.