As Europe battles an energy crisis in the face of ongoing climate change and soaring energy bills, the UK could be heading for a ban on domestic commercial flights where travellers could travel by train instead. The move would be intended to slash the nation’s carbon emissions from aviation by 53%.
This is according to a report from the Intergenerational Foundation, Trains over Planes: why the government should encourage domestic train travel, which claims that domestic aviation was responsible for emitting 2,7 megatonnes of CO2 and equivalents in 2019. The organisation claims that 62% of emissions as a result of UK domestic flights were between destinations already linked by rail networks.
The foundation is calling for the UK Government to ban domestic flights to encourage rail travel, encourage up to a 33% decrease in carbon emissions from all domestic flights, and directly urge travellers to choose the train while increasing capacity on rail routes.
“We are all aware of the risks posed by climate change, and reducing domestic flights is one way in which we can significantly reduce the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions. Banning domestic flights with a viable alternative by train would be a faster route to our nett zero targets and a small but important contribution to protecting future generations from the effects of climate change,” says Co-Founder, Angus Hanton.
Xmas lights off?
Elsewhere in Europe, other countries are taking measures to reduce their own emissions outside of aviation.
Deutsche Umwelthilfe, a non-profit environmental and consumer protection association, is calling on the German Government to turn off the lights at Christmas markets that are popular tourist attractions around the country each festive season.
"We are not calling for Christmas markets to be cancelled," Jürgen Resch, DUH Federal MD, tells Euronews. "These can and should also be able to take place this year. But a festive mood does not include orgies of light and illumination as in earlier years."
Germany has already made strides to save energy in the coming months, encouraging local businesses to decrease room temperatures in their establishments and switching off lights at other attractions like the Brandenburg Gate.
"In Switzerland, several department store chains have decided to do without special Christmas lighting for their buildings – an example for Germany as well,” Resch adds.
Similarly, in Spain, Alicante Mayor Luis Barcala has proposed that citizens of the city turn off one-fifth of its Christmas lights this year to conserve energy.
The Eiffel Tower is set to dim its 20 000 lightbulbs earlier than usual this year for the same reason. Normally, the international attraction is illuminated until 01h00 each morning, but the new proposal will see the tower go dark at 23h45 each night, according to The Guardian.
Jean-François Martins, Head of the tower’s management, says: “It’s a highly symbolic gesture – part of the growing awareness around energy sobriety.”
