A new report was released today by the organization “We Are Possible” - and we are excited to read it:
"Elite Status - Global Inequalities in Flying"
From the report:
“Only a small minority of the global population will ever set foot on a plane, and even within the richest nations, most flights are taken by just a few people. When it comes to climate change, air travel is a uniquely damaging behaviour, resulting in more emissions per hour than any other activity bar starting forest fires. This paper shows that it is also uniquely iniquitous. Everybody eats. But only the privileged few fly.”
““When it comes to climate change, air travel is a uniquely damaging behaviour, resulting in more emissions per hour than any other activity bar starting forest fires””
The whole paper is a highly interesting read and the charts and numbers are pretty straight-forward to follow even for non-academics. Here are some eye opening facts:
The U.S. is #1 in aviation emissions, accounting for 25% of global aviation emissions.
While only 20% of the world’s population has ever been on a plane, 88% of Americans have flown.
Just 12% of U.S. households take 66% of all flights originating in the U.S.
Frequent Flyer rewards programs boast 100 million US participants.
Another specific part that popped out to us, a bit hidden in the middle, was this sentence (our highlighting):
“As well as income, there are a variety of other factors that potentially affect flying frequency. Several studies suggest that airport access is a factor in more air travel . One study has suggested people with higher environmental concerns are more likely to fly, while another more recent study suggests that there is no relationship either way. Other 30 socio-demographic factors such as age and gender are also related to propensity to fly, with evidence that men generally travel more frequently and for longer distances by plane than women.” [p. 16]
For anyone who knows us, we believe in walking the walk, not just talking climate - and we hope that more people will follow, even the wealthy “earth-friends” out there!
Here is the link again:
To learn more about what a Frequent Flyer Levy could look like - and a presentation of its cousin Air Miles Levy - Stay Grounded is a good place to continue to:
www.stay-grounded.org/making-excessive-flyers-pay
“‘The jet-setting habits of Bill Gates and Paris Hilton mean that they produce an astonishing 10,000 times more carbon emissions from flying than the average person’, finds a recent study. 1% of English residents are responsible for nearly 20% of all flights abroad; 10% most frequent flyers took more than half of the flights abroad. Flying shows climate injustice in its most extreme form—a few wealthy are most responsible for the harm, while large majorities worldwide never or rarely fly. Two possible measures could tackle this injustice: a Frequent Flyer Levy (FFL) or an Air Miles Levy (AML).”