NBAA and the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) are closely watching developments at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in Montreal involving the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS). On Tuesday, GAMA president and CEO Pete Bunce said at the organization’s yearly press briefing that both associations are also working closely with the International Business Aviation Council on this matter.

In November, the European Commission agreed to suspend the application of the carbon tax for international flights to and from European airports on the condition that the 2013 ICAO Assembly agrees to a global alternative to ETS at its meetings in September and October. But if an agreement is not reached then, the EU plans to re-impose ETS for international operations.

“If we don’t have some type of resolution on a global basis,” Bunce said, “the question becomes, ‘What do the Europeans do next?’” He added that–with last year’s passage of an anti-EU-ETS bill that prohibits U.S. aircraft operators from participating in the EU-ETS–the U.S. government sent a clear message.

Progress on the climate talks appears to be “mixed,” Bunce said, adding that NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen is “very concerned about this, and we are too, because right now the system that is set up for ETS disenfranchises business aviation tremendously. We have to get this fixed.”