Airlines - A Growing Concern

As of now, the impact of aviation on the environment is small but as a proportion of the total, its share is going to increase for the simple reason that other sectors will ‘decarbonise’ faster and aviation will continue to grow

The civil aviation industry in India, like elsewhere around the world, is a major driver of economic development. Besides fostering trade and tourism, commerce and business, it encourages investment and serves the social purpose of providing a means of leisure. Since 2003, the Indian civil aviation sector has witnessed impressive growth. Domestic traffic has tripled and all indicators point towards further growth, perhaps more dramatic than hitherto. This is so despite the fact that governmental policies are a cause of concern for the collective psyche of the industry.

Aviation fuel costs, which are about 60 per cent higher than the global average, continue to be a drag on the industry. Airline managements have made fervent pleas to bring aviation turbine fuel (ATF) under the ambit of ‘declared goods’ category and under the impending GST regime, as also to reduce the tax from specific to ad valorem. The disquiet about inexorably rising airport charges is only matched by the trepidation about the newly introduced service tax on civil aviation. Capital investment regulations have kept foreign direct investment (FDI) away from our airlines, while investors shy away from the prospect of squandering capital on risk-ridden, cash-strapped airlines. As if this was not enough, an international emissions regime like the sword of Damocles threatens to deliver another blow to the already gasping industry. This article looks at the global environment concerns, and the implications for the Indian civil aviation industry.

Environmental Challenges

Of the three major environmental challenges of climate change, air quality and noise faced by aviation, the first is the most menacing. Climate change is essentially caused by greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from industrial activity including aviation. Along with this is the realisation that reduction of GHG emissions is an inescapable national responsibility. GHG emissions are largely caused by the burning of fossil fuels. A logical conclusion therefore is that any reduction in the use of fossil fuels would not only lead to conservation of this limited resource but would also allow adequate time for assimilation of waste, and especially carbon dioxide emissions. Energy efficiency and low carbon growth have thus become the mantras for strategic business decisions including those related to civil aviation.

The GHG emission, which has the maximum impact on climate change, is carbon dioxide (CO₂). Global climate change is a direct consequence of increasing GHG in the lower atmosphere. Aviation accounts for about two per cent of the total global CO₂ emissions and about 12 per cent of CO₂ emissions from all forms of transportation. Aviation also produces non-CO₂ emissions which include water vapour, nitrogen oxide, sulphur oxides, hydrocarbons and black carbon (soot). Most of these are emitted at altitudes between 26,000 feet and 40,000 feet. CO₂ emissions from aviation along with water vapour are the only GHG. About 95 per cent of CO₂ emissions are from aircraft in flight while the rest can be attributed to aircraft on ground, energy use at airport terminals, surface transport and infrastructure development. In terms of proportion, aviation is a small contributor to climate change. However, it is an important one and has drawn more than its fair share of attention from environmental activists.

Global Initiatives

Meanwhile, global initiatives have pursued environmental issues on various planes. In 1995, at the first Conference of Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) was asked to address the issue of allocation and control of emissions. The SBSTA acknowledged the role of International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) in addressing the control of fuel emissions. At the third COP at Kyoto in December 1997, the Kyoto Protocol was adapted. Para two of article two of that protocol states that parties shall pursue limitation or reduction of GHG emissions working through the ICAO. The protocol includes emissions from energy use at airports and from domestic air travel, but due to lack of consensus on how to attribute the emissions from aircraft flying between two countries, international aviation was excluded from the first round of Kyoto. Governments agreed to work through the ICAO to limit or reduce emissions from aviation. The ICAO has, thereafter, adopted a comprehensive resolution to reduce the impact of aviation emissions on climate change and has drawn up an action plan through to 2050.

In 2007, the ICAO established the Group on International Aviation and Climate Change (GIACC). In 2009, the GIACC drew up an action plan which recommended a global target of two per cent annual improvement in fuel efficiency of aircraft in international aviation with 2005 as the base year. At the 37th ICAO General Assembly on October 8, 2010, in Montreal, all 190 member states adopted a comprehensive resolution formalising this “aspirational goal”. In pursuit of this and other goals, the GIACC proposes measures falling under the heads of aircraft related technology development, improved air traffic management and infrastructure use, more efficient operations, economic/market based measures, and regulatory provisions.