China’s decision to bar its airlines from the European Union’s carbon market represents the first turbulence since the aviation industry was forced to fly under the scheme a little more than a month ago.
But it may signal much choppier conditions to come – both for airlines and the governments facing off against the EU over a policy that is the centrepiece of the bloc’s effort to fight global warming.
While officials from the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, predicted that Chinese carriers would ultimately comply with the legislation that requires them to participate in the market – formerly known as the emissions trading scheme – the airline executives said they were being plunged into legal uncertainty.