Civil society organizations have put an urgent tax reform on the table: the implementation of taxes on luxury tourism and transportation as an essential mechanism for Mexico to meet its international environmental commitments in the climate fight.
The initiative, driven by the Tax Justice Alliance, seeks to raise sufficient funds to address the nation’s “triple environmental crisis“: climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss.
In the aftermath of the United Nations climate summit (COP 30), recently held in Brazil, the collective presented the technical document ‘Greener, Fairer: Taxes that Care for the Planet and People’.
This report details that without a tax restructuring targeting higher-income sectors, the country’s emission reduction goals will be unattainable. Arabel Alí, spokesperson for the Climate Action Network, emphasized that current public financing is insufficient and must be bolstered by those with greater economic capacity and who generate a greater ecological impact.
The inequality of the carbon footprint in the climate fight
One of the central arguments of the proposal lies in the deep inequity of emissions. Diego Merla, representative of Oxfam, revealed a striking fact: the wealthiest 1% of Mexico pollutes in the same proportion as the 80% of the population with fewer resources. Based on this premise, the organization demands a progressive fiscal policy that stops implicitly subsidizing unsustainable lifestyles.
“It is imperative to focus collection on luxury goods such as art, jewelry, high-end cars, and specifically, private jets and yachts,” Merla noted. The activist questioned the ethical justification of private flights amid a global climate emergency, recalling that a private jet can emit up to 14 times more carbon per passenger than a conventional commercial flight.
Mexico, leader in private fleets
The urgency to regulate private air transport becomes more relevant considering that Mexico ranks as the second country with the most private jets worldwide. The Alliance proposes that the new levies be applied not only to the ownership of these vehicles but also to extractive activities such as mining, heavy freight transport, and mass tourism, sectors known for their high carbon footprint.
The ultimate goal of these taxes on tourism and luxury transportation is twofold: to discourage polluting practices and to generate a pool of resources exclusively earmarked for the implementation of adaptation and climate mitigation policies that protect the country’s most vulnerable communities.
