A group of countries has called for new taxes on premium air travel, including private jets and business-class tickets, as part of efforts to fund climate action and sustainable development. The taxes were proposed at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4), being held in Seville, Spain between June 30 and July 3, 2025.
Organised once every 10 years by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, FfD4 brings together countries, international institutions and private sector actors to address financial challenges for achieving sustainable development.
At this year’s conference, eight countries have come together to launch a new aviation solidarity coalition targeting premium air travel, referring to first- and business-class tickets, as well as private jets. The coalition comprises France, Kenya, Barbados, Spain, Somalia, Benin, Sierra Leone and Antigua and Barbuda, and is supported by the European Commission and the Global Solidarity Levies Task Force.
The Global Solidarity Levies Task Force is an ongoing initiative launched at the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28), co-led by France, Kenya and Barbados, and now comprising 17 member states. It designs proposals for solidarity levies on sectors with a disproportionate contribution to global emissions, in order to generate finance for climate and development goals.
Currently, the Task Force is considering levies across several sectors: Aviation, shipping, financial services, fossil fuels, international carbon pricing, plastics, cryptocurrencies and high-net-worth individuals.
According to the coalition, the aviation sector accounts for more than 2.5 per cent of anthropogenic emissions, yet kerosene generally remains exempt from taxation, particularly on international flights. Within the G20, the average price of kerosene is €9 (about Rs 1,058) per tonne of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emitted, compared with €79 for diesel and €68 for petrol.
Moreover, just 1 per cent of the global population is responsible for over half of the emissions from commercial aviation. Private aviation has also grown, with a 46 per cent increase in emissions between 2019 and 2023.
The coalition aims to influence discussions at COP30 in Belem, Brazil, seeking stronger contributions from the aviation sector and channelling all — or part — of the proceeds towards investments in fair transitions and resilience. Domestic resource mobilisation within developing countries is under consideration, where governments collect and use aviation levies domestically, alongside international solidarity measures to finance climate change mitigation and adaptation, pandemic preparedness and other development challenges.
The coalition will work to bring more countries on board for the implementation of flight ticket levies and private jet taxation, while also developing principles for the use of proceeds. Concurrently, it will explore the possibility of international taxation in the aviation sector.
By COP30, the Global Solidarity Levies Task Force aims to facilitate the emergence of a ‘coalition of the willing’ to implement one or more of its proposed levies.