The Swedish government wants to remove international obstacles to introducing a tax directly targeting fossil aviation fuel.
”"Aviation must reduce its climate impact," says Minister of Infrastructure Tomas Eneroth (S).
Currently, international regulations prevent states from introducing national taxes directly targeting fossil aviation fuel in international air traffic.
This has, among other things, meant that the Swedish aviation tax has instead been directed at air travel itself and has thus not become a blow to the aviation industry to accelerate the transition to alternative aviation fuels.
”We need to find more instruments to enable the flight to be reconfigured,” says Eneroth.
”"A change in international regulations would make it possible to change the Swedish aviation tax so that it becomes more environmentally friendly," he adds.
According to Eneroth, the current focus is on using taxes to get international aviation to mix in more biofuel and eventually switch to biofuel entirely. According to the minister, a tax on fossil aviation fuel could also be used to stimulate the development of electric aircraft.
Eneroth expects resistance and negative reactions when he raises the issue at the UN's international aviation agency ICAO's general assembly in Montreal late Tuesday evening Swedish time.
The initiative is being taken in the shadow of the UN's Climate Week in New York, where Prime Minister Stefan Löfven and environmental activist Greta Thunberg are participating, among others.
”"It will naturally arouse resistance. It is a clear change from how the international regulatory framework has been before," says Eneroth.
According to Eneroth, a number of EU countries have today introduced or plan to introduce some form of aviation tax for environmental reasons – including France, the Netherlands and the UK.
According to Eneroth, the issue of a tax on fossil aviation fuel will also be pursued by the Swedish government in the EU, to coordinate the climate transition.
