Poor countries call for climate change levy on air passengers

On the same day as a coalition of leading airlines called on the UN to include the aviation industry in a global emissions cap-and-trade scheme, a group of poorer countries yesterday urged climate change negotiators to instead implement a straight global levy on airline tickets to help fund measures to tackle global warming.

The group of 49 least-developed countries (LDCs) tabled proposals at the UN's latest round of climate change talks in Bonn, Germany for a small levy of about $6 (£4) on all international air passengers, which it estimated could raise up to $10bn a year to help fund climate change adaptation efforts.

Under the proposals, the levy would increase the price of a long-haul ticket for standard passengers by just one per cent and as a result would have little impact on tourism while raising sizable funds for developing countries that will face the most severe climate change effects.

Benito Müller, environment director at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies and author of the proposal for the LDCs, told the Guardian newspaper that the move would have no significant effect on global passenger numbers, while delivering "significant positive effects to the development of the poorest and most vulnerable countries and communities".

Advocates of green levies on airline tickets argue that they are easy to administer, adhere to the "polluter pays" principle, and simple for passengers to understand.

However, critics claim that passenger levies are rarely large enough to encourage behaviour change and are less effective at giving airlines incentives to operate fuller flights and invest in more fuel-efficient planes than schemes that tax fuel or put a price on carbon emissions.

The LDCs' proposal is in direct contrast to a draft policy framework, presented yesterday by an aviation industry coalition including British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Air France/KLM and Virgin Atlantic, as well as airport operator BAA and NGO The Climate Group, which called for airlines to be included in a global carbon trading scheme based on "ambitious, equitable and effective" emission caps.