GLOBAL airlines have agreed on a proposal for tackling aircraft emissions in a bid to break international deadlock over an issue that has stoked fears of a carbon trade war.
Airlines representing 85 percent of global traffic urged governments to adopt a single market-based system designed to offset growth in their post-2020 emissions against the funding of projects to cut emissions deemed harmful to the environment.
The decision aimed to offer governments a basis for negotiation after United Nations talks failed to resolve a standoff between the European Union and other countries over an issue with cross-border implications.
Airlines have been racing to avert a trade war after the EU halted an emissions trading scheme for a year to give opponents time to agree on a global system.
So far, little progress has been made in the UN effort to craft a deal to lower emissions from international air travel, raising doubts that a September target date can be met.
The International Air Transport Association, a group of 240 originally state-owned airlines set up to help the UN harmonize aviation after World War II, backed the plan after balancing the interests of airlines usually noted for cut-throat competition.
State-owned Chinese and Indian airlines voted against the measure.
IATA said earlier that failure to agree a common position would expose the airline industry to a "patchwork horror story" of different regulations.
Airlines have been trying to use a slim opportunity to smooth over their own divisions and seize the initiative.