Poor nations call for 'levy' on air tickets to help adapt to climate change

Guardian (UK): A levy on all airline tickets and a global trading system for aircraft emissions are the contrasting proposals presented today to tackle the impact of flying on climate. Negotiators at UN climate talks in Bonn were told by the world's poorest 49 countries that the annual 760m international air passengers should each pay a levy of about $6 (£5.4) on every flight to help those nations adapt to climate change.

The least developed group of countries (LDCs) said a modest levy could raise up to $10bn (£6.8bn) a year and help countries in the frontline of climate change adapt to the intense floods, droughts, sea level rises and crop failures that poor nations are experiencing as a result of global warming.

The proposed levy, they said, would increase the average price of an international long-haul fare by less than 1% for standard class passengers, but up to $62 for people travelling first class.

According to Benito Müller, environment director of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies and author of the proposal for the LDCs, said the compulsory levy would have no significant effect on global passenger numbers and would have minimal negative impact on tourism. "By contrast, it will have significant positive impacts on the development of the poorest and most vulnerable countries and communities, by avoiding climate change impacts," he said….

Detail of a winglet on a Boeing 737-800, Photograph © Andrew Dunn, 3 May 2006. Website: http://www.andrewdunnphoto.com/, Wikimedia Commons, under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.0 License