Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
If you consider yourself to be environmentally-conscious as well as privileged enough to have stepped foot on a commercial airliner (80% of humans never have), you may feel (as I do) an emerging sense of dismay about the state of aviation.
If we are really serious about a drastic reduction in aviation emissions, by 2030 or even by 2050, there is just one currently realistic route to that goal: we need a drastic reduction in flights.
Flying is a privilege enjoyed almost exclusively by a small percentage of the affluent classes. Yet among these classes, aviation results in a large share of personal carbon footprints.
Aviation’s core problem is not the 2.5% (or more of carbon emissions it contributes worldwide). Its problem is that carbon emissions are baked into its business model.
The reduction in travel during the pandemic and people’s willingness to find simple pleasures closer to home bode well for the ‘staycation’ – holidaying at home or in the home country – and for reducing carbon emissions.
