At least we're ashamed of ourselves

Heart palpitations, cold sweat, pressure in the ears, with every bit of turbulence the stomach does a little flip – for many people flying has always been an unpleasant thing. But for several years now there has been a new trigger that causes additional discomfort for air passengers: the so-called flight shame. The term, originally established as flygskam by Swedish journalists, describes the guilty conscience that spreads when using an aeroplane due to knowledge of the serious environmental burden. Especially in Generation Z (18–24 years) this feeling is known according to a YouGov survey – 26 per cent of those surveyed have experienced flight shame themselves. On the travel platform destinet it says that in 2019 in a survey 73 per cent of all air travellers felt more or less guilty conscience about their flight. And the CO2 compensation provider atmosfair has, according to the Institute for Socio-Ecological Research, doubled its income in 2019 compared to the previous year.

One might think that if there is so much awareness of climate damage in our society, serious consequences would also be drawn from it. Yet there is unfortunately no talk of a change of mind or reorientation in flying behaviour, no matter how hard one tries. In a global forecast model, the German Aerospace Centre predicts that the number of aircraft passengers will increase by more than 100 per cent by 2040. And although it has been possible to reduce the fuel consumption of European aircraft by almost half since 1990, emissions caused by air traffic have increased by 214 per cent since then. A survey by BILD caused particular uproar last year, according to which the Alliance 90/The Greens faction had the most flights per capita of all members of the Bundestag – a total of 126 times within two years. And the picture is similar among party supporters: according to a survey by the Tagesspiegel, whilst 58 per cent of Green supporters have a guilty conscience about flying for climate protection reasons, it is also these respondents who feel most drawn to the Greens who have flown the most in the last 12 months.
How does that fit together? Demanding climate protection but promoting climate change? Thinking flying is stupid but still taking the next flight for a "well-deserved holiday"? It almost seems as though one could still travel by plane as long as one feels bad about it. Harmful to the climate? – At least one reflects on it! Meanwhile, we continue to pump 650 million tonnes of CO2 per year into the atmosphere through global air traffic. So is this flight shame actually anything good if it apparently doesn't change our behaviour? Or is it rather a convenient means of quickly dealing with one's own insufficient contribution to climate protection and then having a good time in Mallorca?
At least one can note that thanks to the flight shame discourse, the topic of climate protection when travelling has been put on the agenda. That there is discussion about the reintroduction of the kerosene tax, about a ban on domestic flights, the expansion of the rail network, investment in research into more sustainable fuels. And it is clear that a change of mind cannot only take place on the part of individuals, but that above all incentives must be set by politics. Nevertheless, the manner in which this discussion is often conducted is anything but productive. Problems exist, for example, with those who spread flight shame. In English, flight shame can be translated in two ways: flight shame and flight shaming. And whilst flight shame, that is, feeling ashamed oneself for using an aeroplane, is not necessarily unavoidable and might even move the affected person to change their behaviour, one should be careful about who and where one engages in flight shaming . Because this refers to accusing or shaming other people for travelling by plane. Firstly, most people should look to themselves first when it comes to climate protection before criticising others for their behaviour. And secondly, flight shaming often leads to problems on the other side of the discourse, on the side of the recipients. In its study, the Institute for Social-Ecological Research examined the Twitter bubble around the topic of flight shame. And came across tweets such as these, amongst others:

"Because of the #ClimateYouth we already have #FlightShame, #MeatShame, #ParentingShame and now also #DeliveryServiceShame. Probably just a matter of time before the #ClimateStrikers demand that we also feel ashamed of our #Life."

"The most absurd internet term for me is #FlightShame. I mean, who comes up with the crazy idea of being able to convince my friend and me that we should feel ashamed of flying. Totally mad. Such terms only exist here. At the baker's, nobody talks about it."

The flight shame debate is thus often taken very personally – and thus leads to no desirable result. On the one hand, fingers are pointed and climate sermons are held with universal validity, on the other hand, the so-called "climate youth" is stigmatised and holidaymakers feel restricted and hurt in their personal freedom. Flying thus becomes a very precarious topic in which it is difficult to behave correctly. Getting on an aeroplane is a great environmental sin, and yet most people do it anyway; a big trip a year is simply part of it, and how else would one get to know other cultures and broaden one's horizons. Big decisions have to be made by politics anyway, and until then we can buy ourselves off with CO2 compensation (incidentally, given that so many people feel ashamed of flying, the rate of people who offset their flight is a whopping 1 per cent).

Unfortunately, there is no straightforward solution to this problem. And certainly it will be difficult to find a way to conduct this discussion in a more meaningful manner. And of course, responsibility lies largely not with individuals, but with political and economic decision-makers. Yet these decisions do not always have to represent such major steps, and a shift towards more sustainable travel would not have to progress so sluggishly. A good example was the offer from Deutsche Bahn in September, which allowed all subscribers to use rail transport free of charge for two weeks. Or airlines could factor in CO2 compensation when booking flight tickets, which one would then have to manually deactivate. Business travel could perhaps also be replaced by a Zoom conference after Corona. Train tickets need to become cheaper. We need these small incentives that bridge the time until we perhaps find a sustainable, environmentally friendly way to travel through world history without worry. And then one would no longer have to feel ashamed.