India will urge its airlines to boycott the European Union's carbon charge scheme, raising the prospect of a global trade war over a law requiring flights in and out of Europe to pay for their greenhouse gas emissions. A senior Indian government official told Reuters that India would soon ask local airlines not to buy carbon credits from or share emissions data with the bloc, which says other countries are not doing enough to tackle this source of greenhouse gases.
China said in February its airlines were barred from participating in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) unless they got government approval. Beijing has also suspended the purchase of $14 billion worth of jets from European maker Airbus India does not yet plan to ask airlines to cancel Airbus purchases, but that is possible if the dispute escalates, said the Indian official, who has direct knowledge of talks between the EU and other countries on the issue. If the European Commission then stopped Indian airlines from flying to Europe, India would retaliate with similar moves and consider charging an "unreasonable" amount for flying over India, the official said on Monday.
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