Call for airlines to pay tax on their fuel
The chairman of the Sustainable Development Commission has said airlines will need to pay a tax on airline fuel to compensate for the damage they cause to the environment.
Commission chairman Jonathan Porritt, said air travel had remained ‘more or less’ untouched in the debate over the environmental costs of various forms of transport, according to a report in the Daily Telegraph.
He added: ‘This will no longer be the case. It is unacceptable that aviation fuel is exempted from the burden of taxation.’
Porritt based his comments on the first annual report on the quality of life in Britain undertaken by the SDC. The report is meant to be a barometer of ‘wellbeing’ in the UK based on 15 socio-economic and political indicators.
The report found while there had been improvements in eight of the 15 factors, air quality and violent crime had worsened.
Porritt welcomed the document as a milestone, but said in that in certain areas there was a discrepancy between what the government was presently doing and what was necessary.
In addition to his comments on air travel, he also criticised the government for failing to implement a real renewable energy strategy. Currently only 2.8% of the country’s energy comes from wind, wave and solar power, compared with a government target of 10%.
Porritt’s comments come as the government prepares to implement the climate change levy, aimed at reducing the effect of harmful gas emissions and toxins on the environment. The levy has been heavily criticised by businesses and organisation such as the CBI as being harmful to the competitiveness of UK industrials.
Links
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