Airlines must pay for their pollution, climate activists say at Cop28 – The National

Airlines must pay for their pollution, climate activists say at Cop28 – The National

Live updates: Follow the latest news on Cop28Global airlines must be made to pay for their carbon emissions to finance climate action and help distressed communities now, activists said during Cop28 in Dubai.They demanded that airlines pay carbon tax or contribute to the newly created loss and damage fund to mitigate their environmental impact, especially on the poorer countries facing climate disasters.The industry, which has set a target of net-zero emissions by 2050, has an urgent responsibility to act quickly, activists said.US-based Eko, an organisation that holds corporations accountable for bad behaviour, from polluting the environment to dodging taxes, started a global campaign in August targeting the airline industry for its climate-warming emissions.The airline industry could easily contribute to the fund in a proportional way. A percentage of business class tickets is something that we would be very happy to seeRewan Al-Haddad, campaign director, Eko"When the loss and damage fund was established and governments started to make pledges, we saw this as an incredible opportunity for us to now start putting pressure on industries because there's a new mechanism for us to get industries to start paying their fair share for the pollution that they're causing," Rewan Al-Haddad, campaign director