How Bad is Flying for the Environment, Really?

AFAR

In this video, we investigate the impact of flights and flying on airplanes on the environment, and what role carbon offsets can play in reducing its negative implications.  Read the full article: https://rebrand.ly/ttrhxer  ---- CONNECT WITH AFAR Afar.com is a digital and print magazine that publishes travel tips, guides, news, and stories: https://www.afar.com  Get updates on the latest articles, travel news, and more from AFAR by signing up for the AFAR newsletter: https://afar.com/newsletters  Follow AFAR on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AfarMedia Follow AFAR on Twitter: https://twitter.com/afarmedia Follow AFAR on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afarmedia Follow AFAR on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/afarmedia

Transcript

00:00 When you plan a trip, one of the first things you probably do is book a flight.

00:05 And as a society, we fly a lot.

00:09 Global aviation has risen from 310 million in 1970 to more than 4 billion passenger journeys in 2018.

00:17 The pandemic caused a huge dip in flying, of course,

00:20 but the International Air Transport Association estimates that by the end of 2022,

00:26 that number will bounce back to 3.4 billion.

00:30 By 2024, the association predicts that people will fly even more than they did in 2019.

00:37 All of this flying, however, has some devastating consequences for the environment.

00:48 Flying can emit up to 100 times more carbon dioxide than train, bus, or shared car rides per hour.

00:56 In fact, the International Council on Clean Transportation estimates that if everyone took just one long-haul flight per year,

01:04 it would greatly exceed the United States in terms of CO2 emissions.

01:09 Milan Clover studies the effect of carbon-intensive activities, such as flying, at the University of Oxford,

01:15 and in an effort to decrease his carbon footprint, he hasn't flown in three years.

01:21 Unfortunately, flying is probably the most carbon-intensive activity that a single individual can do.

01:29 So I haven't been on an airplane for three years now, but if I was flying on a regular basis,

01:36 I would easily increase my own emissions by a factor of five or so.

01:43 This is because flying just takes a lot of energy in order to get a big airplane out.

01:49 People and airlines have taken notice of air travel's negative effect on the environment.

01:56 And one way airlines are attempting to solve this problem is through carbon offsetting.

02:01 Carbon offsetting is a way for individuals or organizations to neutralize their proportion of an aircraft's carbon emissions

02:09 on a particular journey by investing in carbon reduction projects.

02:14 So what does that look like?

02:17 Say you want to take a round-trip flight from New York to London.

02:22 That would pump about 4,450 pounds of carbon into the air.

02:27 A carbon offset against this flight would help sponsor a project aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions

02:33 or increasing carbon storage, like preserving forests in Kenya's Chiulu Hills region or supporting coffee growers in Peru.

02:42 You can buy offsets through a variety of organizations, some of which partner with airlines.

02:48 However, there has been some criticism towards carbon offsets.

02:52 The carbon offsets that are currently offered, I do not think that highly of them.

02:57 And this is simply because they're not really what we sometimes call true offsets or geological offsets

03:03 where actually the CO2 really goes back into the ground.

03:07 So basically, if you now buy an offset, there is no guarantee that actually the CO2 that you've put into the atmosphere

03:14 due to the flight is actually really taken out again.

03:17 But while carbon offsets may not be the end-all be-all solution,

03:21 airlines like Delta are pointing out that carbon offsets are a way travelers can make an immediate impact

03:27 and people are ready to be more responsible, thanks in part to COVID-19.

03:32 In a survey of 250 travelers, travel agency Virtuoso found that 82% want to travel more responsibly as we emerge from the pandemic.

03:42 Jessica Hall Upchurch, Virtuoso's vice chair and sustainability strategist in 2019 said,

03:48 "This past year has led to travel's great reset, and one of the positive outcomes has been an awakening

03:55 in terms of our greater responsibility to each other and to the planet."

04:00 And she's not the only one who feels this way.

04:02 COVID may have really changed the way how we travel, how we have communication.

04:09 There's much more virtually happening.

04:11 Instead of just like quickly flying to somewhere in order to have a meeting,

04:16 many people prefer to have a virtual meeting instead.

04:19 And so looking forward into the next 10, 20, 30 years,

04:23 it's really the question of how our travel habits will be impacted by COVID.

04:30 Flying less frequently, slow travel, and traveling more locally

04:34 play a part in reducing your environmental impact when you travel.

04:38 So while flying can be bad for the environment,

04:41 rethinking the way you travel might help get us to a more sustainable future.

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