The Minister of Transport (France) announced on Tuesday (July 9) that starting from 2020, the purchase of air tickets in France will be imposed a green tax to fund environmental protection projects.
According to the Associated Press (AP), the amount of this green tax will be between 1.50 - 18 euros (about NT$52-630), and the target is mainly is mainly aircraft departing from France, excluding transit in France, Flights to Corsica and overseas French territory and aircraft that fly from other countries to France.
Although environmentalists welcome this new measure, they are not entirely satisfied. They believe that the aviation industry must reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to make a contribution to climate change.
The transportation and environmental groups in Brussels believe that “the green tax on air tickets is not very effective, but at least this means that the French government recognizes the inadequacy of the current system.”
The Minister of Transport (France) announced that the green tax will be charged at 1.5 euros for the economy class of domestic and European (EU) flights and 9 euros for the business class.
To fly outside the EU, a green tax of 18 euros is required. In comparison, the British passenger tax is between £13 and £172 (about NT$494-6536), bringing £3 billion in taxes (about NT$1.14 billion) to the UK each year.
France is expected to impose a green tax since 2020, which will bring in an income of 180 million euros per year (about NT$630 million). The money will be used to invest in an environmentally friendly transportation infrastructure, including rail construction.
Other European countries such as Germany, Sweden and Italy have already imposed air ticket green taxes
Most airlines oppose the government's levy of green tax. They said that this is just a matter of moving the aircraft to another place. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) believes that it is better to offset the carbon emissions of aircraft by carbon emission trading.
