Ribera considers it “reasonable” to put more taxes on the plane to fight against climate change

The fourth vice-president and Minister for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (MITERD), Teresa Ribera, has described as an “interesting debate” the different proposals in Europe that propose to put new taxes or fees to those who travel by plane who, in her opinion, are “who have more resources or are tickets paid for by the company”, so she considers that this option “may be reasonable”.

However, in statements to Onda Cero collected by Europa Press he has indicated that miterd is working on the “debate on environmental taxation” with the Ministry of Finance that protects the review process to do so with an “overall vision”.

In that sense, he has given as an example in which Spain can “fix” in France, which has just imposed “unilaterally” a tax on its aviation, and points out that this may even mean a “new income for the EU budget”.

On the other hand, regarding the proposal of the mayor of the City Council to use the train in front of the plane between Madrid and Barcelona, he believes that one of the most interesting issues is the “change of patterns and priorities” of people, something that he sees as simpler and more accessible than “putting prohibitions”.

In fact, he has highlighted the growing trend in a good number of European countries, in particular the Nordics, which ask to use less polluting alternative transport and ensures that the plane has registered a “decrease in tickets” on medium-distance routes.

“It is possible that the same thing will happen here. That destinations such as Madrid-Barcelona and Valencia, Madrid-Seville are destinations in which the weight of the train is growing gradually, therefore, more than imposing prohibitions, we must provide quality alternatives at a reasonable price, “he added.

Sanchez’s Travels

In this context, asked if the President of the Government Pedro Sánchez could set an example and travel by train instead of plane on some routes, Ribera has said categorically that “the president, like all presidents who have been in his position previously, moves so that his entourage considers it more convenient at all times sometimes goes by train others by plane”

The fourth vice president has defended that the agenda of the presidents is “always complicated” and he is “a person who likes to be on the ground when there is a problem” and “to show the weight and priorities and the potential of Spain both inside and outside”.

In this context, he describes as “anecdotal” the monitoring of their movements and the way to do them because “the most important thing” is that they exercise their functions well “to make the reality of Spain heard and present”. In any case, he admits that “it always helps” that senior officials behave “in a coherent way”.

Coastal Law

On the other hand, he explained that with the declaration of climate emergency during the past week, the Executive wanted to “highlight the main lines” of an issue “as important” as the change in the conditions that mark the climate system and affect the physical and economic reality.

Regarding the latest storms, he pointed out that there is a “capacity to relocate many investments that depend on the State” through the insurance compensation consortium or agricultural insurance to respond to the losses of the primary sector.

As for the deadline to repair the damages and losses, he said that first it is necessary to quantify the damages to react quickly, something that is not simple but he has said that “everything possible” will be done to try to give time to repair the damage “before Easter”.

But in addition to that, he has warned that there are other “more complex” debates such as the fact that there are areas in which the beachfront is practically in the terrestrial public domain by a “coastal law that obviates a difficulty that cannot be fought”.

Faced with this situation, he believes that it is necessary to “begin to rehearse another type of response” that protects against increasingly “virulent and recurrent” storms. In fact, he said that the Ministry for the Ecological Transition plans to propose a strategy for the different sections of the coast that poses a “transparent reality” and that this Monday afternoon a meeting will be held in his department on the coast of Cádiz and Huelva.

Source: ABC