As the European Commission took another step towards its plan to reduce CO2 emissions through the Emissions Trading Scheme, the international response was swift. IATA immediately reiterated its opposition to what it considered to be a "misguided" plan. In a press release published a few hours after the European decision, the association and its Director General Tony Tyler "urge[d] the European Union to abandon its mistaken plan to include aviation in the ETS from 2012". Specifically, IATA criticises the project for taking a "unilateral and regional" approach which, in the association's view, should be replaced by a global dimension under the aegis of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). IATA adds that the introduction of the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) would distort the laws of the market and expose travellers to new and unequal taxes, without guaranteeing any real effectiveness for the environment. On the contrary, the association advocates greater involvement by governments, in particular to finance infrastructures, technologies and other alternatives - in particular biofuels - that could effectively combat CO2 emissions.
