Eco-tax to be imposed on all flights in France

Money raised will go toward greener forms of transport

France is to introduce an "eco-tax" for all flights, domestic and international, from French airports, with the money raised to be spent on alternative forms of transport that cause less pollution.

Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne said the level of taxation would vary depending on the nature of the flight. An economy class ticket for an internal flight, or to a destination within the European Union, would be taxed at one euro and fifty cents ($1.68). The highest level would be on business class flights going outside the EU, costing up to 18 euros.

The scheme, which will only affect flights departing from French airports, not coming into them, will come into full effect from 2021, and Borne said it was hoped it would raise around 180 million euros each year.

Air travel is believed to contribute around two percent of the world's carbon emissions, but just five percent of the planet's population flies, so it is a disproportionately large source of pollution.

The idea for the eco-tax was first suggested by French tourist organization Entreprises du Voyage after the European elections campaign earlier in the year when some politicians suggested the far more radical idea of banning domestic flights altogether in a bid to reduce the country's carbon footprint.

Last year the French government tried to impose fuel taxes as an environmental safeguard but the move proved deeply unpopular and was the original motivation behind the widespread yellow vest protests, which developed into a wider display of anger against the government and austerity policies.

The announcement came the same day as legendary British wildlife broadcaster David Attenborough told a parliamentary committee that"extraordinarily cheap"air travel was having a huge impact on the environment, and prices would inevitably need to rise to discourage people, particularly from taking shorter-distance flights.

"I don't know how you would restrict it other than economically," he said. When asked if such moves would impact most on those least able to afford it, he said"Yes. I'm afraid that is the case."

For decades, Attenborough has been one of the world's most influential and highly respected broadcasters, making numerous series about environmental issues all around the world–which have involved him taking hundreds of flights. He admitted that, under the circumstances, he could be accused of hypocrisy, and that alternative fuel technologies could be the way forward.

"I have travelled by air only too frequently in the last six months in order to make programs," he said, "some of them programs about the very subject we're talking about, which is, I daresay, a paradox. The long-term solution is you work out a way of powering aeroplanes electrically."