Aviation is one of the sectors with the greatest impact on climate change. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from commercial aviation account for 2.5% of global emissions, and are expected to increase by 50% over the next 30 years.
One of the measures that have been proposed to reduce aviation emissions is the ban on short flights. A short flight is defined as a flight of less than 500 kilometers, which is the distance that can be traveled by train in less than two and a half hours.
The ban on short flights has a direct impact on GHG emissions. A study by the European Environment Agency (EEA) estimates that banning short flights in Europe could reduce aviation emissions by 10%.
This has already begun to be applied in France and it seems that it will be done in other countries, but there are many people who are not happy with the measure. They argue that it can affect connectivity between cities, especially in regions with little rail infrastructure, and also that it can increase the cost of travel, since trains are usually more expensive than planes.
But this has a catch, since planes are cheaper than trains due to the subsidies applied to air transport. Which doesn't make much sense, especially when there are much less polluting transportation alternatives, as is the case with the train.
I think the most important step is for us citizens to realize once and for all that the Climate Crisis is one of the biggest problems we have, if not the biggest in the medium-long term, and that we must act accordingly.
The most important thing is to modify our customs, and be aware that we have to “give up” some of our current privileges to leave our descendants a more sustainable climate environment. With the ultimate goal of making it completely sustainable.
And we don't have to let them fool us, flights, and especially those of large airplanes, are very far from being non-polluting, since there is no real alternative. Those who talk about the use of SAF fuels do not say that there will not be that type of fuel for all the needs of current and future flights. It is a half-truth, or what is the same: a deception. Pure and simple “green-washing” to deceive people.
Pleasure flights, which are the majority, like cruise trips, and many others, are recreational activities that we carry out by contaminating our environment, and that we should think a little about before doing them. We can entertain ourselves with other activities and in other less distant places.
We can live well in a different way and pollute much less. We just have to be aware of the challenge before us, and be willing to “lose” some of the benefits we enjoy, to leave a better future for our descendants.
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