Air travel is the fastest growing contributor to climate change. Between 2002 and 2050, the overall contribution of air travel to climate change is expected to leap from 3.5% to as high as 10%. In the UK alone, it is estimated that almost 500 million passengers annually will pass through British airports by 2030, one billion by 2050 and one and a half billion ten years later. In 1970 it was just 32 million.

The single most effective decision you can take to reduce your impact on the climate is not to fly. With Flightpledge you can pledge to limit the number of flights you take each year – and show the government that we don’t want limitless cheap flights and ever-expanding airports.

There are two pledges – gold and silver. Sign the gold pledge and you promise to take no flights in the coming year, except in a personal or family emergency. Sign the silver pledge, and you promise not to take more than two return short-haul flights, or one return long-haul flight, in the coming year – again, except for an emergency.

Their website explains: ‘We are especially trying to target frequent, casual, short distance, short break, leisure flights – flights that are only possible because they are cheap; flights that are disproportionately polluting because most of the fuel is used getting to cruising height and then almost immediately landing; journeys that can easily be made by rail. Our objective is to sign up as many people as possible, firstly to reduce the number of aircraft movements, and secondly to show the government that there is a large number of people who are willing to voluntarily limit their flying and make an individual gesture to reduce their personal impact on the environment.’

Sign the Flight Pledge here

Flickr photosource – thanks Shane H

A related video

Carbon Off-setting from Generous on Vimeo.