Excise taxation to protect our planet: a point of view from students in the global North : A case from Södertörn University, Sweden

Sammanfattning: Background: Flying is a mode of travel used mainly by the wealthier part of the planets’ inhabitants, while it is the poor parts of the world that suffer the consequences from climate change the most. Coping with climate change is one of the largest challenges of the century, especially for low-income developing countries. Important stakeholders have realized that it’s a global responsibility to lower the anthropogenic impact on the climate. Political ecology will be used to place the problem with unequal distribution of consequences in a larger context, while environmental economics will be used to examine the flight tax implemented in Sweden on April 1st2018. Purpose: Toexamine student’s attitudes towards excise taxation as an incentive to reduce emissions from air traffic, and whether there was a difference in attitudes between students from different disciplines. Research question: What are Swedish students’ attitudes towards excise tax onflights to reduce emissions? Is there adifference in attitude towards the flight tax depending on the students’ field of studies? Method: Quantitative approach with questionnaire responses as the main empirical data material for analysis. Conclusion: A majority of students participating were positive towards the newly implemented flight tax. Students from an environmental discipline were positive to a greater extent than other students.