 The government recognises that there are no viable alternative aviation fuels , and whilst it accepts that the exemption of aviation fuel from fuel tax is anomalous , it sees no scope for a unilateral approach in addressing this . The strategy adopted in the White Paper seeks to mitigate the global impact of air transport primarily through emissions trading schemes . Although the Kyoto Protocol implemented emissions trading as a means to reduce emissions at national levels , the global nature of air transport means that all air travel is excluded from this mechanism . The government is seeking to redress this through the International Civil Aviation Organisation ( ICAO ) , which has been working on the environmental issue since 1998 , but progress is slow . In the meantime efforts are being made to include aviation in the EU Emission Trading Scheme ( EU ETS ) with an original target to implement this by 2008 . In 2006 the government re @-@ affirmed this policy as the best approach for addressing the climate change impacts of aviation , and current proposals aim at accomplishing this for all flights within the EU by 2011 , with the scheme being extended to include all flights to and from the EU the following year . 
