Plane Journey, transport

Essentially you are proposing personal carbon trading for the sector of aviation. This sounds like a solid idea; there has already been a lot of research around personal carbon trading and the main takeaway point are that:

1 - "personal carbon trading would be [...] - redistributing money from the rich to the poor - as the rich use more energy than the poor, and so would need to buy allowances from them. This is in contrast to a direct carbon tax, under which all lower income people are worse off, prior to revenue redistribution."

2 - A full implementation in all areas of commerce would be a challenge, as most of it would need to be digitalized and standardized.

A partial implementation only in the aviation sector would be a great pilot projects to see how it would change consumer behavior and at the same time allow for broader implementation in other areas.

Dear Brigitte,

Thank you very much for sharing your idea. It is very interesting to read.

Do you have any specific ideas of how a European Citizen Initiative could look like that addresses this issue?

Feel free to elaborate further so that other citizens may join your discussion or even initiative. Don't hesitate to also check out the Connect function of the Forum to meet like-minded citizens.

Another element that could be of help is to check past initiatives dealing with environmental matters. Did you know about the initiative "Ending the aviation fuel tax exemption in Europe"? Of course, their cause is slightly different but it touches upon a similar issue.

The European Citizens' Initiative Forum Team

A class idea!

Air travel is one of the most environmentally polluting forms of transport. It has its benefits but (at least within Europe) cheaper, cleaner, more interesting, more social, flexible and engaging forms of transport need to be promoted. Fast, modern electric trains for example, using a unified European rail network. A fast train over medium distances often takes you home (not the airport) faster than a plane.It ought to be cheaper too.