German Greens eye short-haul flight ban, jet fuel taxes

London, (Quantum Commodity Intelligence) - German's Green Party is seeking to introduce taxes on jet fuel and abolish short haul flights across the country should it gain power after September parliamentary elections in the country.

Speaking to German newspaper Bild am Sonntag, Annalena Baerbock said her party would seek to introduce what she termed a "climate friendly taxation of flights" as well as restricting short haul flights.

Germany consumed around 220,000 b/d of jet fuel for commercial purposes in 2019, around 5% of global demand.

The Green Party is currently standing second in the polls behind the CDU-CSU alliance, putting Baerbock in a strong position to hold a significant position in the new government later this year after Chancellor Angela Merkel stands down following a decade and a half in charge.

Currently, jet fuel is exempt from energy taxes, although emissions from flights within Germany and to other EU nations are included in Europe's emissions trading scheme, meaning a CO2 charge is levied from flights, but only those that land and take off within the 27-member state bloc.

For international flights from Germany, no VAT is charged, and plans to include flights to and from the EU within its emissions trading scheme were shelved in 2013 after the US and China threatened a trade war due to fiscal overreach by the EU.

Instead, the airline industry has pledged to cut emissions 50% under 2005 levels by 2050.

Baerback, however, believes that this does not go far enough.