National Sustainability Policy for the Aviation Sector. Overview of measures in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France and the United Kingdom

The future of the aviation sector is an issue on several national policy agendas. The sector faces declining social acceptance and regulatory constraints, such as noise level, nitrogen and climate targets, that are inhibiting further growth. As it currently stands, total global greenhouse gas emissions from aviation will continue to rise. Moreover, aviation’s share of global emissions will increase even further in the future due to reductions in other sectors.

In this report for the Foundation for Nature Conservation and Environmental Protection, we first provide an overview of the scope of the aviation sector in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France and the United Kingdom. We then identify and list the national and local measures currently being taken by these countries to:

• limit aviation growth to meet CO2 reduction targets;
• make aviation more sustainable (both local and global emissions);
• impose higher prices on aviation.

The Foundation for Nature Conservation and Environmental Protection have asked us to indicate the most effective national measures. We have distinguished between four categories:

1. Capacity measures.
2. Taxes and other price measures.
3. Funding and promoting sustainable aviation.
4. Regulations, obligations and prohibitions.