Major countries are urging China to join the start of a UN-brokered deal to limit carbon emissions from international flights because its participation is seen as essential to hitting targets, according to an Asian source familiar with the talks.
The talks are being led by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The Montreal-based United Nations agency meets September 27 to October 7 to try and finalise the deal, which has been approved as a draft but has not yet been made public.
Europe and the United States want the deal to cover 80% of the rise in emissions from international flights after 2020, two other sources familiar with the regions’ thinking said.
China has said it wants “developed countries” to take the lead and it may not yet commit to joining in order to retain negotiating power for ICAO’s autumn assembly, the first source said.
The three sources spoke on condition of anonymity because the emissions talks are confidential.
Environmental groups said they are hoping to see China participate, possibly even agreeing to back the deal at this weekend’s G20 gathering in Hangzhou.
China is hosting the G20 summit for the first time.
“China has showed that it wants to be a leader on climate change so it will be critical that they continue their positive moves by joining in efforts to reduce aviation’s growing climate pollution problem,” said Jake Schmidt, international director for the Natural Resources Defense Council in Washington.
Aviation was excluded from last December’s climate accord signed in Paris.
A joint statement from the United States and China from the G20 gathering is expected on Saturday to send a strong signal favouring an aviation emissions deal, said Li Shuo, climate adviser with environmental group Greenpeace in Beijing.
It’s not yet clear, however, whether China will join the deal’s voluntary phases from 2021 to 2026.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China would not comment on the ICAO draft, which would make the deal mandatory for aviation powerhouses like the US and China in 2027.
The market-based plan must win the support of ICAO member states, or risk the European Union breaking off talks and imposing its own emissions trading system on international airlines in 2017.
The global deal, which the airline industry supports, would require carriers in participating countries to limit their emissions or offset them by buying carbon credits from designated environmental projects around the world.

2mn head ‘on vacation’ from Hangzhou in China’s G20 makeover
Ahead of the G20 summit set to begin this weekend in Hangzhou, more than 2mn residents of the eastern Chinese city have went on vacation — subsidised by the government.
The city government ordered one week of vacation and distributed travel coupons worth more than $1.1bn.
As a result, about one-third of the city’s population has left ahead of the meeting of world leaders, which is set to take place tomorrow and on Monday, Chinese travel agency Ctrip estimated.
It’s the first time China will host the annual summit, and Beijing is keen that it goes off without a hitch.
City streets won’t only be devoid of people, but also automobiles, with the government banning about half of car transportation.
Production at factories in a 300-kilometre radius around the city was also shut down, allowing the smog to clear.
The local government has also ramped up security ahead of the summit, setting up 172 checkpoints for traffic, which leave “no blind spot” in the city streets.
Altogether about 1.5mn assistants have been recruited to help organise the summit, with volunteers patrolling residential areas to maintain order.
The meeting in Hangzhou is the first for the leaders of the world’s key economies since Britain voted in June to leave the European Union.