7 Interesting travel facts, linked to the environment 

“How much do we need to reduce travel emissions to meet the targets set out in the Paris Agreement?”

Good question! Perhaps you’ve also wondered how much worse the private jets celebs catch are, compared to commercial planes, or how much more we drive than walk?

Here are 7 interesting travel facts linked to the environmental:

1. Transport-related CO₂ emissions would need to be curbed to 2Gt or 3Gt by 2050, or 70-80% lower than 2015 levels to meet the Paris Agreement’s 1.5C limit.  

2. More passengers per vehicle = lower individual emissions.  

3. A double decker bus, a clever form of public transport, can replace up to 50 other motorised vehicles.

4. Making cities walkable, i.e., making it easy to travel around a neighbourhood on your own two feet, reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 4 tonnes a year when compared to automobile-dependent areas.

The avoided emissions are equivalent to 2-person round trip flying economy between Paris and New York.  

5. We now drive seven times as much as we walk.  

6. In 2016 most passengers in the UK (72%) were flying for leisure.  

7. Private jets are 5-14 times more polluting than commercial planes (per passenger) and about 50 times more polluting than trains.

Our planet doesn’t need a handful of perfect environmentalists. It needs millions of imperfect people doing what they can to make a difference, and always trying to do better.  

Post by

Saithya Ullas