EXPERTS have called for a new tax on private jets as Britain’s richest 0.1 per cent emit 12 times more greenhouse gases from transport than the average person.

In a report published today, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) think tank warns that half of all transport emissions come from just a fifth of the population.

Britain has made limited progress over the past three decades in reducing greenhouse gases from transport, which is now the country’s worst sector for emissions, the report warns.

Its report calls for the introduction of new taxes on private jets, including both increased air passenger duty and a kerosene tax.

The think tank is looking into how such taxes can be made more progressive, so as not to penalise families taking their annual trip abroad, for example, with early suggestions including allowing people a small number of flights a year before a tax is introduced, which then rise higher as more flights are taken.

IPPR senior research fellow Dr Maya Singer Hobbs said: “Our transport system both reflects and contributes to social inequalities.

“Reducing emissions can actually tackle some of that injustice, if done fairly.

“But while not everyone needs to make the same changes, those who are financially best off need to do the most.” 

The think tank also calls for the lifting of the ban on municipal bus fleets and reinstating plans to prohit the purchase of new fossil-fuel-powered vehicles from 2030. 

People with an annual income of more than £100,000 travel at least twice the distance each year of those earning under £30,000, its analysis reveals.

It also finds that women’s emissions are lower than men’s, since they travel significantly less by both car and plane.

People with a disability and those of non-white British ethnicity are also likely to travel far less, while those aged 35 to 64 emit the most through use of private transport.