Emissions on International Flights: ANAC Publishes Regulations Incorporating Corsia Rules in Brazil

On May 14, 2024, Brazil’s National Civil Aviation Agency (“ANAC”) approved Resolution No. 743/2024 (“Resolution”), which regulates the monitoring and offsetting of carbon dioxide (“CO2”) emissions on international flights. Two months later, on July 10, 2024, ANAC published Ordinance No. 15,007/2024 (“Ordinance”) to detail how the process of monitoring and offsetting emissions will work.

Monitoring Requirements

In summary, the Resolution incorporates in the Brazilian legal framework the CORSIA (Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation) rules. The CORSIA rules were approved in 2016 by the International Civil Aviation Organization ("ICAO") and will come into force in Brazil on January 1, 2025.

The Resolution establishes that an airline must monitor its CO₂ emissions when it emits, in a calendar year, an amount greater than 10,000 tons of CO₂ in its international flights (except for humanitarian flights, medical flights, or firefighting flights). Under the Resolution, non-compliance with CORSIA rules in Brazil may result in fines of BRL 50 per ton of CO₂ emitted.

The Ordinance, in turn, provides that an airline that is not yet subject to mandatory monitoring may, in order to verify whether it emitted more than 10,000 tons of CO₂ in a calendar year in international operations, estimate its emissions by using the CORSIA’s CO2 Estimation & Reporting Tool (CERT) tool or by multiplying the total tons of fuel consumed by the relevant conversion factor. Pursuant to the Ordinance, ANAC may calculate the estimate on its own and, at its discretion, notify the airline that it must initiate the process of monitoring its emissions for the following year.

If the 10,000-Ton Limit Is Exceeded

In the year following the year in which the limit of 10,000 tons of CO₂ is exceeded, the airline must prepare an Emissions Monitoring Plan, submitting it to ANAC for approval, as well as an Emissions Report and an Offsetting Report. The Emissions Monitoring Plan should address the method adopted for measuring emissions in international operations and the procedures to ensure compliance with monitoring requirements.

The airline that has an obligation to offset emissions must also cancel "Emission Units Accepted by CORSIA", which are carbon credits approved by ICAO for use under CORSIA.

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The Environmental, Climate Change and ESG Practice of Tauil & Chequer Advogados in association with Mayer Brown is available for further clarification on the subject.