The French may be concerned about the consequences of global warming, but several opinion polls show that few of those who travel by air are willing to give up this greenhouse gas (GHG)-emitting mode of transport. According to a survey published in May 2023 by Professor Pégase of the Montpellier business school, 67% of the thousand respondents said they were not at all ashamed of choosing to fly; only 12% said the opposite. Results similar to an Ipsos survey for The Sunday newspaperconducted among a sample of people aged between 18 and 34 in the same period: the plane is the second preferred means of transport for those surveyed (54%), just behind the private car (65%).
This reflects a certain reluctance to give up the exceptional mobility offered by the airline sector, particularly for the most mobile people (young people, workers without children, high-income households), even if they are aware of the need to rapidly reduce GHG emissions. “I can’t give up the annual plane trip. Without it, I wouldn’t have the courage to keep the other resolutions, that’s my reward.”declared a young traveler in World in 2019, in a topic dedicated to the guilt of “green” travelers when flying.
Civil aviation is difficult to decarbonise because of its addiction to kerosene, but also because two-thirds of its impact on the climate comes from other factors, including the formation of condensation trails.
Pending stricter regulation of the sector by the States, The world offers a calculator for anyone who wants to continue travelling by air but is worried about how to change certain aspects of their lifestyle to individually “counteract” the emissions resulting from their trip. To visualise the efforts to be made (and especially their duration), simply enter a destination from the hundred proposed.
December 8, 2023 Edition : we replace the data of “switch to renewable electricity” by “Use only public transport”because in the French case, CO emissions2-eq related to electricity are already low.
