A landmark court case took place today at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg — and EDF was one of the parties involved.
At issue: whether greenhouse gas emissions from international flights using European airports can be included in the European Union’s Emissions Trading System (ETS), which is designed to reduce carbon pollution and fight climate change.
United and Continental Airlines (which have recently merged), American Airlines, and the Air Transport Association of America (ATA) sued over the current law, which says all airlines that do business in Europe need to comply with the ETS standards.
EDF joined a group of American and European NGO’s (including WWF-UK, Earthjustice, the Aviation Environment Federation, and the European Federation for Transport and Environment) and six European Union countries to support the ETS.
Our side pointed out that lots of other European Union laws, from environmental protections for oil tankers to highway safety rules for truck drivers, already apply to international transport — and work just fine.
Read more about today’s hearing here, and get more background information here.
Then stay tuned for the next step: the advocate general’s opinion in October.