Air traffic: Climate policy registers difficulties
Switzerland is the world champion when it comes to air traffic. Often, even well-trained people fly who are well aware of the effects of their actions: Flying is the most climate-damaging means of mass transport. Unfortunately, politicians are doing nothing to curb its growth. The industry has so far been spared the CO2 tax, fuel tax and VAT.
Mr. and Mrs. Swiss and air traffic - actually a great marriage of convenience. According to a representative Population survey by the gfs-zürich research institute (.pdf), commissioned by the Swiss Energy Foundation SES, more than half of Swiss people have flown once or more in the last two years (56%). People with a high level of education and high incomes tend to fly frequently in particular. 24,850 kilometers - more than half a circumnavigation of the globe - were covered by the Swiss resident population per person in 2015. More than a third of this, 9000 km, was flown, almost 90 percent of it for private purposes, and the trend is increasing (Cf. Microcensus Mobility and Transport 2015, FSO).
Knowledge is not actionable
The gfs-zürich survey, which polled 1004 randomly selected people from German- and French-speaking Switzerland, shows that only just under a quarter (23%) of the Swiss population have refrained from air travel in the last two years for ecological reasons. This is despite the fact that a clear majority agrees with the statement that air travel heats up the climate (60%) and most state that they pay attention to climate-friendly actions in everyday life (54%). From these results, it is evident that there is a gap between awareness of the problem and implementation. Knowledge of the harmfulness of the climate is not enough to change individual behavior. Only a few people switch to more climate-friendly means of transport for the sake of the environment or head for a closer destination.
Multiple harmful emissions
emissions from air traffic count several times, because the exhaust gases have a much greater effect on the climate at this altitude than on the ground. Moreover, airplanes produce not only CO2, but also other greenhouse gases such as nitrogen oxides, soot and water vapor. The aviation industry and the scientific community disagree about how much more. Aerosuisse, the umbrella organization of the Swiss aerospace industry, assumes a Radiative Forcing Index (RFI) of 1.35. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assumes a higher factor, whereby the impact of the formation of cirrus clouds (contrails) is relatively uncertain, but has a major influence.
The German Federal Environment Agency takes this effect into account and assumes an RFI of 3 to 5. Many environmental associations, but also the well-known "climate compensation organization" myclimate, calculate a factor of 2.
By any measure, flying is the most climate-damaging means of mass transportation. Worldwide, it contributes around 5% to global warming. In Switzerland, the figure is as high as 18%. In contrast to other areas such as heating or road traffic, where CO2 emissions are decreasing, the curve for flying only goes in one direction: up.
Growth far exceeds efficiency gains. Although aircraft consumption can be reduced continuously, the climate footprint of civil aviation is getting worse every year. Simply because more and more aircraft are on the road.
Exempt from taxes and duties
One might think that this would put politicians on their guard. In reality, the opposite is the case: the airline industry is spared and promoted wherever possible. Value-added tax is payable on a train ticket - but not on airline tickets. Aviation kerosene is also exempt from the CO2 tax and the mineral oil tax levied on heating oil and fuels. And at the climate summit in Bonn, which ended last week, air travel was once again not an issue. Emissions from aircraft are not included in the climate negotiations.
Instead, the industry is relying on voluntary measures, which is not a good idea, as the CORSIA example shows. In October 2016, the UN aviation authority ICAO adopted the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation - a fraudulent label. Emissions do not have to be reduced, but only partially offset. In concrete terms, only the increase in emissions from 2020 is affected, i.e. only a fraction of what is emitted. And this is still on a voluntary basis. CORSIA will not become binding until 2027, and even then there will still be exceptions (Cf. FLAB, a publication of the Swiss Protection Association against Aviation Emissions SSF, spring 2017.). This is clearly insufficient.
The end of voluntarism is desired and urgently needed
Political regulation is still largely lacking in air traffic. Yet there is no shortage of good ideas. One of them is the ticket levy: airline tickets are charged with a levy that depends on the length of the flight route. Various European countries, such as Germany and Great Britain, have had incentive systems of this kind for many years. Such a levy even meets with great approval among the population. In the "Univox Umwelt 2016" study by gfs-zürich, almost three quarters (72%) of respondents were in favor of such a measure.
With voluntary measures, air traffic emissions will continue to increase instead of decrease. Without a massive regulatory intervention, most simply via the price, Mr. and Mrs. Swiss will not be dissuaded from reaching their vacation destinations by air. Of course, education about the causes and consequences of climate change remains important. This is how the population's high level of approval for appropriate measures can be maintained. But knowledge about climate change will only stop very few people from continuing to fly far too much.
Survey by gfs-zürich on behalf of SES
The representative population survey was conducted by gfs-zürich, Markt- und Sozialforschung on behalf of SES. From October 9 to 28, 2017, 1004 people in German- and French-speaking Switzerland aged 18 and over were surveyed by means of telephone interviews. " The survey results in detail (pdf)
