Is it a good idea to eliminate French domestic flights to reduce CO2 emissions?
In any case, this is what Greenpeace France advocates, which published on January 21 a report entitled “Aviation: preventing the relaunch of short flights”.
“An aberration”, according to the NGO. This report establishes the connections that emit the most CO2 in France in 2020, in particular when aviation activities resume after the first confinement. It also indicates which domestic journeys could be made other than by plane.
65 kg of CO2 for a Paris-Lyon plane
Thus, for a Paris-Lyon journey, an alternative by train exists in less than 2h30. It is the same for a Lyon-Marseille.
Alternatives whose impact is reflected in figures: for the Paris-Lyon connections, 38,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide were emitted in total in 2019, according to Greenpeace. A traveler making this trip would emit 65.7 kg of CO2, compared to a single kilogram by train.
Hence the “shame of taking the plane” (“flygskam”, in Swedish), an expression popularized in particular by Greta Thunberg.
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In Lyon, the members of Greenpeace mobilized to raise awareness among the population about the regulation of air traffic.
????✈️ To hope to achieve the objectives of the #AccorddeParis and limit the increase in temperatures to + 1.5 ° C, you need ???? air traffic.
We talk about it with you this afternoon!
Meet us at Parc de la Tête d’Or, entrance Porte des Enfants#Plane #Weather #Lyon pic.twitter.com/DUKEZNUn9S
– Greenpeace Lyon (@greenpeacelyon) 23 January 2021
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International flights remain the biggest polluters
However, according to the Ministry of Ecological Transition, domestic air traffic emitted 5.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. This represented only 1.6% of total emissions in France, according to figures from the national emissions inventory.
It is indeed international flights that remain the biggest emitters of CO2 from air traffic in France. But “this can not be a pretext for not regulating domestic flights for which less polluting alternatives exist or are possible”, insists Greenpeace, which recognizes “that banning short flights will not be enough”.
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