The European Union (EU) refused last week to change its airline carbon emissions plan despite opposition from the United Nations aviation body. Starting January 1, the EU will charge foreign and domestic airline carriers for their carbon emissions, and the EU is already defending its decision in court. Last Wednesday, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) released a declaration with the backing of China, the United States, and 24 other nations saying that the directive was "inconsistent with applicable international law." U.S. companies have argued that the rules violate international aviation and climate change agreements, and China reportedly retaliated by blocking Hong Kong Airlines' order for billions of dollars worth of Airbus aircrafts. The declaration said that the EU plan "violates the cardinal principle of state sovereignty," as it charges airlines for emissions released outside of the EU. EU climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard said that it was "disappointing that ICAO discussions once again focus on what states should not do instead of what they should do to curb growing aviation emissions." Hedegaard also highlighted provisions in the EU law that exempt airline carriers arriving from a nation that implements similar measures. For the full story, see http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jhAScS9pUTWciZL9v83JRMJKPOfw?docId=CNG.8f57c81ec428501957d8f35c38e9be85.161 and http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/02/26-nations-defy-europe-on-airline-emissions/. For the declaration, see http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/03/uk-airlines-emissions-idUSLNE7A201R20111103.