Greening aviation: how does the ecologization of the regulation of air services impact international air law?

The article explores the influence of the environmentalization of legal frameworks governing air services on the evolution of contemporary international air law. It focuses on the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), developed by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and its correlation with the norms of international environmental law. The primary aim is to elucidate the transformative effect of environmental initiatives on the traditional principles of international air law, as well as to identify emerging normative conflicts and institutional divergences. The study sets out to analyze the fragmentation of international law in the context of CORSIA, determine the legal force of ICAO standards, and assess the interrelation between regional and global regulatory mechanisms. The methodological basis of the study is comprised of formal legal and comparative legal methods. A systemic approach was applied in the analysis of doctrinal sources, as well as the practice of international organizations and judicial bodies. Particular attention is devoted to the Advisory Opinion of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea on climate change, which clarified the legal force of the Annexes to the Chicago Convention. The line of argumentation is structured around three key questions. First, the author examines the interaction between international air law and environmental law, noting that despite efforts at harmonization, CORSIA gives rise to normative conflicts-particularly with respect to the principles of common but differentiated responsibilities and non-discrimination. Second, the legal status of CORSIA as an Annex to the Chicago Convention is analyzed. Third, the study addresses the conflict between the European Union’s environmental initiatives and the universal norms of international air law, most clearly manifested in the Judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union regarding the extraterritorial application of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme in the aviation sector. Based on the results of the study, the author concludes that CORSIA represents a relatively successful attempt to strike a balance between the competing values of international environmental law and international air law. At the same time, its effectiveness will ultimately depend on the political will of individual states, as the Annexes to the Chicago Convention per se do not establish binding international legal obligations. Drawing on the analysis of the European Union’s environmental initiatives, the author observes that regional mechanisms for the environmentalization of air services may impose obligations that conflict with the universal norms of international air law. In this regard, the international community faces the challenge of harmonizing regional and universal mechanisms for reducing carbon emissions from civil aviation.