Travelling on land: train over plane and the issue with flight-shaming

A few weeks back, I had to travel from England to Germany to attend a conference on climate change. The spontaneous move from my organisation was to buy plane tickets: cheap, fast, reliable. I was only meant to spend three days there, so it would avoid an extra night, and reduce my travel time.

Nevertheless, I felt deeply uncomfortable with the ideas of:

1) working for an environmental charity which,

2) would send me to a conference on how to tackle to climate change by,

3) boarding a plane there and back?

Considering that flying is one of the top carbon emitters, it didn't make any sense to me. Globally, flying is the fastest growing source of greenhouse gases - and only 5% of the world's population has ever set foot on one! I therefore battled and asked that we investigated a less carbon intensive mode of transport. I managed to be sent on a train from London to Heidelberg, which was a lovely journey and took seven hours door to door, with a few stops in-between. In total, it was about an hour longer than the equivalent journey on a plane, door to door. After the conference, I was then travelling for my holiday, and I took the train from Heidelberg to Paris, Paris-Bordeaux, Bordeaux-Paris and Paris-London. And I really enjoyed it.

Travelling by plane is associated with luxury, despite flying being accessible to a growing number of people across the world. Paradoxically, the train, at least in Europe, is much more expensive, which is also why people tend to turn towards flying much more for short(ish) journeys. I realised this when I was talking to one of my friend who, as a consultant, is flying almost every week for short distances (Western Europe only). He was telling me that his colleagues enjoyed it because they had access to first class and luxury lounges at the airport. That completely baffled me (beyond the fact that a company would make its employees travel by air rather than train for short distances - how can privileged people feel so remotely unconcerned about the climate emergency?!).

A huge part of the climate crisis is down to the fact that we think ourselves, humans, bigger and more important than we are. In reality, we are a minuscule part of a web of (eco)systems and dynamics that are more complex and intricate than we will ever be able to fathom.

Furthermore, travelling by planes belongs to the societal paradigm which we are fed since birth: the world is small, fits in the palm of your hand, and you need to act fast to get your share of it (welcome free-market capitalism - yay!).

But no: the world isn't small at all - the planet is vast, complex and rich of lots of things we'll never be able to see in our human life and that's perfectly fine. A huge part of the climate crisis is down to the fact that we think ourselves, humans, bigger and more important than we are (see my previous post on success). In reality, we are a minuscule part of a web of (eco)systems and dynamics that are more complex and intricate than we will ever be able to fathom. I don't understand why this is so hard to accept, and mostly (and probably interlinked) why not knowing is perceived as a failure. But that's another post.

It's also good to remember that we don't all pollute on the same scale, as for everything else. Sweden set this new trend of fly-shaming which encourages the feeling of being embarrassed when you take the plane to go on your yearly holiday to the Greek islands. Once again, I think we need to look at the bigger picture - as we should with straws and the plastic problem, people taking the plane once a year for a holiday represent a minor part of the problem. The issue is about rich people flying several times a month, or even a week. Or the ones flying on private jets - they are a small part of the population but cause a major part of pollution due to flying.

We need to stop making ordinary, working and middle class people feel ashamed of their actions. Yes, we all have to change, radically and fast. And yes, I believe it is our responsibility, white privileged people, to lead the way towards change and positive impact, and reduce drastically our production and consumption, in order to leave space to developing countries who might benefit from the small carbon budget we have left until 2050. Nevertheless, I am opposed to fly-shaming people who take the plane once a year. They are part of the problem, but they are not solely the problem. Everyone is responsible - but mostly those who pollute the most.

Finally, if you need a detailed list of perks to travel by train, I suggest you check out Holly Rose's article which makes you want to book your next holiday via trains only.

Enjoy your next train journey!