Fly? Why not
How can we open a conversation about flying less – within ourselves, in our church communities and in the family?
Some reflections following the ‘Fly? Why Not’ meeting on 21st October 2024 at Cheltenham Friends’ Meeting House (More on the meeting at the foot of this post)
‘Flying only accounts for 2% of greenhouse gas emissions’
– Misleading, because taking account of non-CO2 effects (contrails, release of water vapour and NOx etc.), aviation in the UK accounts for c10% of our national annual emissions. This figure is growing fast in many countries, as only a very small part (c3%) of the world’s population flies regularly, and more and more peoplw want to.. See here. Improving fuel efficiency is not keeping up with increases in passenger numbers.
‘Flying is normal: big structural changes need to be led by Government’
– But as more people choose to stop flying, more will follow. Consumer choices influence both Government and industry, as seen by the resurgence of trains across continental Europe: ‘You are voting every time you open your wallet’, says Helen Coffey. And NB Flygskam
‘I haven’t time to go by train’
– Have you taken into account the waiting around (not to mention general stress) at airports? The travel from and to your point of departure? (Train stations are generally more central.) The fact that you can make some long journeys through the night using sleepers? Have you asked your employer for an additional time allowance so you can choose lower-carbon travel? Have you considered the advantages of being able to take additional baggage and stop off on the way when travelling by train? Or the changes of scenery and opportunities to meet people? See generally the Lonely Planet’s Train Travel in Europe guide.
‘I can’t afford to go by train’
– Have you totalled the extras (for baggage, specific seating etc.) charged by airlines, the cost of journeys to/from the airport, and carparking?
‘How can I deny my children gap year experiences abroad?’
– What skills are they bringing as school leavers to the people they go to live among? Do people in other countries really benefit from their visits? Does the planet care about why you are travelling?
‘Surely some flights are unavoidable?’
– Yes, but that doesn’t mean you have to take the avoidable ones.
‘What about traditional pilgrimages – to Lourdes, Fatima, Rome, the Holy Land?’
– The first 3 are eminently do-able by train or coach. The Holy Land was inaccessible in some centuries past, as a result of which Stations of the Cross evolved. We can consider virtual pilgrimages, and more local pilgrim destinations, and also reflect (with Sally Welch) that ‘every place is holy ground’.
‘If we all stop flying, what’s to become of the aviation industry workers, and all those who earn their living manning airports and planes?’
– Was this a long-term problem with the coach-builders, farriers, staging inns when motor transport replaced horses? Does the cost of the jobs include the damage done in those parts of the world most affected by the changing climate to which flying contributes?
‘Every effort to protect and improve our world entails profound changes in lifestyles.’ (Pope Francis’s Laudato Si’ #5)
(With thanks to all those who attended the meeting, especially Maggie Robertson of Flight Free UK and Guillaume Dutey Harispe)
How can we open a conversation about flying less – within ourselves, in our church communities and in the family? Guillaume Dutey Harispe – online from Tours, France – and Maggie Robertson, a Trustee of the charity Flight Free UK joined members of the Cheltenham Laudato Si’ Circle, and Green Christians in Cheltenham to help flesh out Pope Francis’s words, “Every effort to protect and improve our world entails profound changes in lifestyles”.
Maggie described the process by which she came to pledge to reduce her own flying, and then join in persuading others to do the same. Her charity – see https://flightfree.co.uk/ – challenges everyone to consider some form of pledge: for instance, no holiday flights this year, no domestic flights – or even no more flights EVER!
Guillaume, an enabler in the process of ecological conversion within his Diocese, spoke about his regular work commitments in Berlin, and negotiating with his employers to be able to travel the 850 miles there by train, rather than plane. (Thanks to Irene del Pozo Gomez, EU In-Country Programs Coordinator for the Laudato Si’ Movement, for indirectly arranging our link-up with Guillaume.)
You can watch a recording of the meeting here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z915SM35Wc
Compiled by Martin Davis
(who amongst other things, runs the Green Christians in Cheltenham Thursday lunchtime fortnightly Zoom Prayer Meetings)
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