EU tax deal breaker for global climate talks

A European Union law that charges airlines for carbon emissions is "unacceptable" and would be a "deal breaker" for global climate change negotiations, Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan said on Wednesday.

From January 1, all airlines using EU airports have come under the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme, which has stirred up strong opposition in the United States, China and India. India has already joined China in asking its airlines to boycott the European Union's carbon scheme. "For the environment ministry, for me it is a deal breaker because you simply can not bring this into climate change discourse and disguise unilateral trade measures under climate change," Natarajan told reporters. Any airline that does not comply faces fines of 100 euros for each tonne of carbon dioxide emitted for which they have not surrendered allowances. In the case of persistent offenders, the EU has the right to ban airlines from its airports.