In Sweden, there is a word for those who feels shame for flying. It’s called ”flygskam” and this word is now used in Sweden on a daily basis.
So let us take Sweden as an example. The average Swede flies once a year. This figure had doubled since the ´90s which means that the carbon emissions, due to airplanes, has increased with 46% (from 1990 to 2017)
From 7 million tonnes to 10 million tonnes.
Below, I have listed a couple of facts regarding air travel to give you some perspective on how to deal with your ”flygskam” if you have any!
- In Sweden, the carbon emissions produced yearly by air travellers is almost as high as the emissions produced by motorists during that same period of time.
- During long haul flights, the emissions increases even more since the plane flies at a higher altitude.
- In 2018, the Swedish government introduced a special tax-system for passengers traveling by airplane.
- On average, Swedes travel by air almost five times as much as the global average.
- If a family of four travels from Stockholm to Bangkok with air plane, their combined carbon emission will be 11,2 tonnes.
Feel any ”flygskam”? There are a lot of ways to make our planet greener and help reduce the carbon emissions. One of them could be to skip the air plane once in a while and take a bus or the train.
