Full to capacity ... the interior of a Ryanair plane. Photograph: Getty/Peter Macdiamird

In the fifth article of our aviation and climate change debate, John Hanlon of the European Low Fares Airline Association argues that low-cost airlines operate more efficient, fuller planes and their threat to the environment is exaggerated

Aviation's contribution to total EU carbon emissions is estimated at some 2-3%. This compares with some 27% for road transport and around 20% for domestic households.

While the industry acknowledges that it has an impact on the environment, this relativity makes it hard to understand the current focus being given to aviation's contribution in particular to total EU CO2 emissions.

Thanks to massive investment in research and development, aviation has dramatically reduced its rate of emission over the past 20 years. The latest aircraft offer significantly reduced fuel consumption and CO2 emissions resulting from fuel burn. Aircraft noise levels are also dramatically lower than a decade ago.

By definition, low fares airlines must have lower seat-mile costs than rival airlines, offering competing business models. In consequence, low-fares airlines are thus driven to operate the latest, most efficient aircraft, offering the latest technological enhancements, primarily, but not exclusively, in the area of fuel consumption.

Justly proud of this, the low fares airlines advocate the eco-labelling of aircraft, based on their environmental performance, similar to the code in use for domestic white goods, enabling customers to exercise informed choice.

Low-fares airlines further operate their aircraft with denser seat configurations and higher occupancy factors, having stripped out many unnecessary items which result in greater weight, and therefore higher fuel burn. Many routes operated by these airlines link secondary regional airports in Europe, avoiding multi-sector journeys via congested hub airports and eliminating many millions of unnecessary car miles.

Low-fares airlines have undoubtedly generated additional demand for air travel within Europe. The region's economies have good cause to be grateful for this, aviation being a major enabler of economic development.

The EU's far-sighted liberalisation of market access and the creation of a single European market was intended precisely to facilitate mobility within the Union for the peoples of Europe, including mobility of labour.

Affordable travel by air has properly become a right for citizens of the EU, where, a generation ago, it was the preserve of the rich few.

The low-fares airlines acknowledge that aviation does have some impact on the environment, if not on the scale suggested by some. In addition to their investment in the most environmentally friendly aircraft, low fares airlines support the case for aviation to offset its impact on the environment.

They see the most positive way to achieve this being the proposed inclusion of aviation in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.

Aviation is already highly taxed, being the only transport mode to have to meet all the costs of its infrastructure. Further taxes would achieve nothing for the environment.

A properly designed Emissions Trading Scheme would result in an imposed cap on overall emissions from aviation, rewarding good environmental performance and requiring airlines to purchase additional allowances from sectors, where the rate of technological breakthrough makes earlier reduction in emissions achievable.

Aviation plays a major role in socio-economic development.

While it is right to want to protect the environment, it is essential to seek to do this in ways that do not run counter to successful economic development, the best custodians of the environment being economically strong states.

The right way forward is undoubtedly the inclusion of all flights within, to and from the EU in the Union's trading scheme, with the aviation sector being free to buy and sell allowances as part of a wider, open ETS.

Adoption of such a scheme would represent a market-based mechanism, appropriate for a market-driven industry, capture the spirit of Kyoto and deliver real benefit to the environment.

• In the culmination of our week of debate on air travel and climate change, George Monbiot will be live online on Monday at midday. You can post your questions for him here