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Traveling halfway across the globe to reach a holiday destination is no longer an inaccessible dream.

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Flying off for a weekend in the sun is no more a jet-set luxury.

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As a result, air traffic has risen sharply in recent years,

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and the impact of aviation on climate change is causing increasing concern.

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Within the European Union, aviation is currently responsible for around 3% of greenhouse gases, such as CO2.

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But this figure could well explode given the strength of demand.

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The volume is increasing by 5 or 6% a year.

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Well, the aviation sector is getting a bit more efficient, but not more than 1% a year or so.

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So that means that the emissions are rising by 4 to 5% year on year.

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And that is what we are seeing right now.

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And if year on year you have 4 to 5% growth of emissions, that means in 15 years a doubling.

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The figures speak for themselves.

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For the European Commission, it's urgent to act, since aviation, unlike other means of transport, is not taxed on fuel.

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So there's little incentive for it to cut its CO2 emissions.

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While in the industrial sector we reduce emissions with 15 to 25% between 1990 and 2004,

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the emissions from aviation have been growing with more than 80%.

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We have been successful in reducing the emissions in the normal industrial installations,

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in the power sector, in the steel sector, in the pulp and paper sector, etc.

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So we cannot continue to be successful in one sector,

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and to neutralize that positive result by developments in other sectors.

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And aviation is one of the most striking examples.

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The European Commissioner for the Environment wants to see aviation take on its share of the effort to combat climate change.