Taxing airfares likely to reduce carbon emissions: UK

LEEDS, United Kingdom: A United Kingdom (UK) based study shows that the most effective way of limiting per capita carbon emissions is by taxing air travel. Taxes on the carbon dioxide (CO2) our activities emit tend to hurt individuals on low incomes more than affluent people, despite the fact that poorer people have lesser carbon emissions. When you’re poor, you can’t afford to buy a carbon-reducing product like an electric car or house insulation. Additionally, even if the price of an important commodity like gasoline or gas for heating rises, it will be difficult for poor people to reduce their dependency on them.

Consumers are charged a carbon tax for each kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity, gas, or oil consumed in their homes for heating, cooking, or watching TV. Since using energy to heat and power your home is a need, poorer people will use a much higher share of their income to pay for these things than richer people. Economists would argue that these types of carbon taxes are regressive in nature.

While overall emissions have decreased in a number of wealthy nations over the past few years, emissions from automobiles and other forms of transportation are rising. Between 1960 and 2018, there was a roughly sevenfold increase in the amount of global emissions from air travel. In addition, while gasoline used by airlines is not taxed, fuel used to heat and power houses or operate automobiles is, because of a 1944 international agreement.

And even though Europeans typically oppose carbon taxes, a research study has identified that carbon taxes on air travel, or luxury emissions, almost invariably have a greater impact on the wealthy. The study looked at how different income categories in the UK might be affected by four potential air travel tariffs. It demonstrates that all of these taxes are progressive since they impose a heavier cost on the wealthy, proportionate to their income. This is due to the fact that those with higher incomes are far more likely to fly, and do so more frequently.

Passengers may be subject to air travel fees that are based on the emissions produced by each person on a flight. Taxes may also be assessed against individuals based on their seat class or the distance they travel. Economy passengers take up the least amount of space per person on an aeroplane, while business and first-class passengers take up more space and generate more emissions as a result.

Moreover, a person’s number of flights could be charged. The first roundtrip flight a person makes in a year would not be subject to a frequent flyer tax, but future flights would be subject to a rising rate of tax. Frequent air travel (all flights after the first return flight) results in even more social inequality, with the top 10 per cent of emitters accounting for 83.7 per cent of emissions from frequent flights compared to just 60.8 per cent of flight emissions.