Hello and welcome to the Strawman, the daily newsletter that’s better informed than ChatGPT4.

Today we’re diving into France who have some unprecedented legislation to curb consumer emissions from travel - let’s get in to it.

Settle down jetsetter

In a blow to impromptu weekend getaways powered by Ryan Air, France has banned short-haul flights where alternatives exist. Most alternative routes take advantage of France's extensive rail network.

The move is unprecedented as there are very few examples of direct government intervention in this way. Normally they just make it reaaally expensive to drive. We see you congestion charge.

Domestic flights are a strong target for governments truing to get their stuff together. Flying accounts for 2.5% of global CO2 emissions and domestic flights in particular, have by far the highest CO2 emissions per KM of any method of transport.

On top of this, a flurry of carriers covering Europe have been offering extremely low pricing over the last few years. This has resulted in flying becoming one of the fastest growing segments for CO2 emissions. It’s like when Pizza Hut does 2 for 1 every Tuesday, of course I’m going to eat more Pizza…

Greenwashing Les Bleus

Critics are coming out strong against the new legislation from all sides. Airline lobbies put pressure on the government to keep the ban focused on flights less than 2 and a half hours and this has meant that only a handful of routes are impacted.

As a result of this, the cleaner transport campaign group, T&E, found that the ban represents only 3% of the domestic flight emissions in France. On top of this, new rail services were already organically reducing demand these routes.

In other words, campaigners are describing the move as a national greenwashing campaign with very little environmental impact.

The move isn’t likely to have significant impact on emissions today but it does open the gates for some interesting future legislation. Perhaps, other countries will follow suit, thereby making space for regional agreements. We’ll be there when the time comes.

Until next time,

The Strawman