Civil Aviation Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says the Pacific faces double punishment if a proposed system for carbon emissions are implemented by the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

I-CAO is working on a system where countries will be gauged purely on emissions from the aviation industry instead of the national carbon footprint.

Sayed-Khaiyum says this puts Pacific nations at a disadvantage as we rely heavily on air transportation.

“Our economic base, our ability to access finance both internally and externally is limited. Taking that into consideration and if you were to then lump on us this very onerous position of the carbon footprint from the aviation sector it would be doubly punishing us for a number of issues that we don’t have any control over.”

He adds that the Pacific is the lowest carbon emitter in the world – but is at the forefront of adverse climate conditions and spend millions of dollars on adaptation.

Under the current carbon emission system proposed by the I-CAO, countries like Australia would have a much lower output than Fiji based on air traffic.

Pacific Aviation Ministers met in Nadi yesterday to come up with a common proposal to the I-CAO meeting in Canada later this year.