A coalition of nations, including France, Kenya, Spain, and Barbados, has pledged to introduce taxes on premium-class air travel and private jets in a bid to finance climate action and sustainable development initiatives.
The announcement, made on the opening day of a United Nations development summit in Seville, forms part of the “Sevilla Platform for Action” — a renewed global financing framework designed to support climate resilience in lower-income countries as traditional development aid declines.
“As part of our commitment to a greener future and stronger international solidarity, this initiative seeks to promote more progressive and harmonised tax systems,” said a statement from the office of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
The measure, which also received backing from Sierra Leone, Benin, Antigua and Barbuda, and Somalia, will be supported technically by the European Commission and coordinated by the Global Solidarity Levies Task Force. Established in late 2023, the task force is tasked with identifying new forms of taxation to help developing nations fund decarbonisation and adapt to the accelerating impacts of climate change.
In addition to aviation levies, a recent report by the task force suggested that other high-emission sectors — including shipping, oil and gas, and cryptocurrency trading — along with wealth taxes on the ultra-rich, could offer significant untapped sources of funding.
“Many of these proposals are not new; countries have experimented with such levies before,” said Kenyan President William Ruto. “What is needed now is political will. We cannot continue to talk about change without delivering it. The world is watching and expecting results.”
Rebecca Newsom of Greenpeace welcomed the move, describing it as “an important step towards ensuring that the binge users of this under-taxed sector are made to pay their fair share.”
