UNITED KINGDOM -- The government is contemplating on asking air passengers to have to pay extra taxes that they will call "carbon charges" as part of their initiative to help reduce carbon emissions in the atmosphere due to frequent traveling. This is one of the ways they can promote discussions about climate change and how it is affecting the environment and the world.
Passengers would then be asked to pay more for travel tickets, which would then help offset the gas emissions through sustainable problems to help reduce them. This scheme is also being evaluated for "opt-out" travel options like buses, ferries, and trains.
The ministers of Environment Protection remain hopeful that this plan could raise awareness about the effects of public transportation on the overall condition of the world's environment. The extra funds that will be collected from this tax could cover the cost of eco-friendly projects such as tree planting to help reduce the carbon footprint of the community. The government expressed that the initiative would "encourage consumers to make smarter choices towards less polluting options."
However, Chris Grayling, the country's transport secretary explains that doing such a move affects everyone and the commitment to making this a rather successful endeavor. However, he made a call to make the spending of such taxes more transparent. The government has expressed their concern that consumers may not be trusting that the extra payments they made are really going to help worthwhile causes.
"Climate change affects all of us in one way or another. We should all be committed to ensuring that our transport plays a part in ensuring that we are able to deliver a zero-greenhouse gases atmosphere by 2050," Grayling said.
"An offsetting scheme would help the travelers to know how much carbon emissions their journey is producing. When they have the opportunity to fund a scheme that will help address the carbon emissions problem, like a tree planting program, they could easily see where their money is going," he further added.
However, despite all these, the focus should not only be on those traveling by air, but other forms of transportation may also be guilty of too much carbon emissions too. The update for zero-emission technology should go across all types of transportation.
