Executive Summary
Properly designed aviation taxes can raise predictable revenue for climate and development finance, while reinforcing fairness and solidarity. The evidence is clear: business and first-class seats can triple the footprint of an economy ticket, while private jets emit up to 14 times more per passenger-kilometer than commercial f lights, justifying the focus on premium flyers.
Aviation is one of the world’s most unequal sources of emissions: a tiny minority of frequent flyers and private jet owners generate a staggering share of climate damage, while most people never set foot on a plane. Yet this luxury pollution remains undertaxed, shielded by outdated exemptions and implicit subsidies.
The result is a carbon-intensive sector treated as if it were beyond the reach of fair taxation.
This Legal Handbook sets out a practical path to change. It advances two targeted measures that are technically feasible, politically defensible, and consistent with international law:
- levies on premium air travel and
- taxes on private jet fuel.
“A tiny minority of frequent flyers and private jet owners generate a staggering share of climate damage”
These measures are rooted in the polluter-paysprinciple and align with standards of equity in taxation. They focus responsibility not on ordinary travelers, but on those most able to contribute – and most responsible for disproportionate emissions.
These measures are not speculative. Many countries already apply various forms of air travel passenger ticket levies and fuel taxes on jet fuel, with designs that withstand international legal and trade scrutiny. Legal analysis and existing practices confirm their compatibility under the Chicago Convention, air service agreements (ASAs), WTO law and European Union (EU) law.
The comparative mapping presented here – including of implementation by Barbados, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Kenya, Lebanon, Malaysia, the Maldives, Mexico, the Philippines, the UK, and others – shows the range of workable models.
The drafting guidance then provides ready-to-use legislative text for governments seeking to move quickly, with a particular focus on premium air travel passenger ticket levies that are differentiated by class and distance bands, and on excise taxes for uplifted kerosene for private jets.
The political moment is now. COP30 in Belém offers governments the chance to prove that climate solidarity is more than rhetoric. This is more than a technical manual – it is an invitation to act. By embracing fair, progressive, aviation taxes as a part of an international coalition of the willing this year, governments can help close the gap between climate ambition and finance while correcting one of the starkest inequities in global emissions.
Introduction and Context
Aviation is among the most carbon-intensive forms of transport, yet its emissions are concentrated in a relatively small share of high-income, frequent flyers and private jet users. Addressing this imbalance through targeted levies is technically feasible, consistent with international law, and politically timely, as governments seek new and equitable mechanisms to mobilize climate f inance at and beyond COP30.
The Global Solidarity Levies Taskforce: For People and the Planet (GSLTF) was launched at COP28 in 2023 to explore progressive tax measures that generate predictable revenue for climate and development, while ideally also discouraging greenhouse gas emissions.
Following consultations with governments, experts, and civil society in early 2025, the GSLTF identified levies on premium air travel and private jet fuel as among the measures with the greatest potential for multi-country adoption by COP30 in November 2025.
These measures are designed to advance three intertwined goals:
- Generate new and predictable revenue for climate finance and development,
- Align tax burdens with both ability to pay and contribution to climate impact, and
- Incentivize a shift toward lower-emission forms of transport,
Prepared on behalf of the GSLTF secretariat, this Legal Handbook
aims to provide governments with a practical foundation for negotiating
and implementing progressive, internationally coordinated levies on
premium air travel and private aviation fuel.
Specifically, the Legal Handbook is intended to:
The Legal Handbook distills comparative experience with aviation taxation from national practices, international legal frameworks, and recent climate-related fiscal innovations.
Together, these elements provide a pathway for governments to reach consensus at COP30 and translate commitment into action
Overall Feasibility of Aviation Taxes
The legal review across the Chicago Convention, WTO/GATS, Air Services Agreements (ASAs) and EU law demonstrates that both differentiated passenger levies and private jet kerosene taxes are legally feasible within existing international and domestic frameworks. Each body of law sets some boundaries, but none foreclose the levy designs explored in the next section of this Legal Handbook.
Passenger-based levies, including those differentiated by class or distance, are well-established in multiple jurisdictions. They do not conflict with Art. 15 of the Chicago Convention, provided they are applied uniformly and transparently. Fuel taxes may be more constrained by ASA exemptions for international commercial carriers, but private jet flights and domestic uplift remain within the policy space of states.
At the EU level, the ETD enshrines the exemption of commercial aviation kerosene from taxation but explicitly excludes the taxation of fuel for “private pleasure-flying” from that exemption. States may also impose non-discriminatory passenger levies and airport charges, provided EU Treaties principles are respected.
WTO rules impose only general non-discrimination requirements (MFN and National Treatment), which passenger levies and kerosene taxes can satisfy if structured to avoid nationality-based distinctions.
Overall, the feasibility test is passed for both types of aviation taxes, provided states ensure:
The legal feasibility of these measures is therefore strong, and governments have the authority to move forward without awaiting new international law.
Taxonomy of Differentiated Passenger Air Travel Levies
Summary of Private Jet Kerosene / Fuel Taxes
Equity and Differentiation
A core principle of international taxation is that measures should be designed equitably, balancing climate responsibility with developmental realities. Aviation levies are especially sensitive, as they intersect with both climate justice and economic sovereignty. To ensure fairness, drafters may incorporate distance-based brackets, class multipliers (business/first class or equivalents for those classes/cabins other than economy), or wealth-sensitive proxies (e.g., higher surcharges on private jet departures).
Many jurisdictions exempt certain categories of passengers for humanitarian, medical, or diplomatic reasons, ensuring the levy does not fall disproportionately on vulnerable groups. Where solidarity objectives are central, drafters can explicitly earmark revenues for international climate funds or adaptation measures, thereby hard-wiring equity into the statute itself.
For small island developing states (SIDS), least developed countrie (LDCs) and remote regions, air connectivity is often a lifeline. Exemptions or reduced rates for short-haul and lifeline routes are therefore justified and consistent with climate equity frameworks. Precedents exist: the UK Air Passenger Duty provides exemptions for certain Scottish airports, and France’s Solidarity Tax exempted medical and lifeline flights. The Maldives also has reduced economy rates for nationals.
Fiji earmarks revenues for adaptation, underscoring that fairness can be achieved through both rate differentiation and revenue use. Further, consideration could be given to applying rates that are differentiated by income group. The IMF has previously suggested this for economy-wide carbon pricing (differentiation between low-income, middle-income and high-income carbon prices).
Progressivity can also be built into levy design. Premium passengers and private jet users – typically the wealthiest, highest emitters – can bear higher per-passenger or per-liter charges without significant risk of leakage.
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