London mayor Ken Livingstone has voiced his support for carbon taxes on frequent flyers.
Speaking at the Guardian’s Climate Change Summit in London yesterday, Livingstone said he supported a tax similar to the one proposed earlier this year by the Conservative party, where people are entitled to one tax-free flight a year, but are charged for any additional flights.
“We are not being honest with people about aviation – the rate of increase from emissions from aviation is terrifying. The more £6 holidays to Marbella, the worse it is going to get,” he said.
“It is nice that people can have short-haul breaks but at what price to the planet?”
Livingstone also criticised government claims that an expansion in airport capacity was necessary for the UK economy, arguing that only 15%-18% of air traffic to and from London was related to business travel.
