Swiss environment and transport groups lobby Parliament for more tax on aviation

A range of environmental organisations in Switzerland have joined forces to appeal to their parliament to introduce an air ticket tax. Two climate protection “angels” took this demand for effective climate protection to the Federal Parliament, as the National Council is now dealing with the air ticket tax as part of Swiss CO2 law revision.  Air traffic is already responsible for over 18% of Switzerland’s man-made climate impact – and forecasts show it continuing to grow. Unless something concrete is done, aviation will become the biggest driver of Switzerland’s climate impact until 2030. Despite the high GHG emissions, international aviation is exempt from kerosene tax, value added tax and CO2 tax. Aviation is now heavily subsidised, resulting in very low fares, further accelerating demand growth. Therefore, it is high time for Switzerland to introduce the flight ticket tax, to reduce the impact on the global climate. Surveys confirm that the level of acceptance of a flight ticket tax is high and a majority supports the revenue from an air ticket tax being invested in climate protection projects in Switzerland. Without cutting its aviation CO2 emissions, Switzerland cannot meet its Paris commitments for 2 or 1.5C temperature rise.
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Climate protection needs a flight ticket!

Monday, December 10, 2018

Campaign train instead of flight – Flight ticket tax

By Daniel Costantino


Two climate protection angels with their request, outside the Parliament

The Transport and Environmental Organizations UmverkehR, the VCS Transport Club Switzerland, WWF Switzerland, the Swiss Energy Foundation (SES), the Air Transport Environment and Health Coalition, Alliance Sud and the Climate Alliance (with over 70 organizations) have joined forces appeals to parliament to introduce an air ticket tax.

Two climate protection angels have taken this demand for effective climate protection in front of the Federal Parliament. Today, the National Council is dealing with the air ticket tax as part of the CO2 law revision.

Air traffic is already responsible for over 18% of Switzerland’s man-made climate effect – and forecasts continue to point upwards. Unless something concrete is done, aviation will become the biggest driver of Switzerland’s climate effect until 2030.

Despite the high greenhouse gas emissions, international aviation is exempt from kerosene tax, value added tax and CO2 tax. Aviation is now heavily subsidised, resulting in very low fares and further accelerating demand growth. Therefore, it is high time for Switzerland to introduce the flight ticket tax in order to establish a minimum of cost accuracy and to reduce the negative effects of aviation on the climate.

Parliament has the opportunity to take a first step in the right direction with the introduction of an air ticket tax in the context of the revision of the CO2 Law.  A similar levy already exists in many European countries such as England and in all neighbouring countries.

In Switzerland, a CO2 tax on heating oil has long been accepted as a control measure. Surveys of the research institute gfs-zurich on behalf of the SES confirm that the acceptance of a flight ticket tax in the population is high. A majority supports the revenue from an air ticket tax to invest in climate protection projects in Switzerland.

If Switzerland wants to achieve the Paris climate targets, it must adapt its transport and climate policy. The Paris climate goals want to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius and below1.5 degrees Celsius warming compared to pre-industrial times. Without reducing air traffic emissions, this goal cannot be achieved.

The organizations umverkehR, VCS Switzerland, WWF Switzerland, the Swiss Energy Foundation, the coalition KLUG, Alliance Sud and the Climate Alliance (with more than 70 organizations) are demanding that Parliament now take responsibility. If Switzerland wants to implement an effective climate protection policy, it must introduce an air ticket tax.

For further information:
Daniel Costantino, Head of Campaign umverkehR, dcostantino@umverkehr.ch , 079 647 83 48
Yves Chatton, Campaign Manager VCS, yves.chatton@ate.ch , 031 328 58 64

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See the original article in German at
https://www.umverkehr.ch/medien/2018-12-10-klimaschutz-braucht-eine-flugticketabgabe 

and there are several videos in German also, at that link.

 

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