No more domestic journeys by plane when there is an alternative by train in less than 2.5 hours.
This is one of the key decisions announced with emphasis by the Minister of Ecology to fight against greenhouse gas emissions.
It was the day after Emmanuel Macron's meeting with the members of the citizens' convention who were the first to breathe this idea.
Except that they recommended to apply it on all trips of less than 4 hours!
And we understand better why when reading a report unveiled this Thursday by Greenpeace and entitled "preventing the relaunch of short flights".
Fifteen internal air connections for which an alternative by train exists were studied by the environmental NGO.
Train or plane, a big difference
“In terms of CO2 emissions per passenger, the difference between train and plane, for the same trip, is considerable,” emphasizes the association.
For example, for a Paris-Marseille trip, we emit 53 times more CO2 (in equivalent per passenger) when we travel by plane rather than by train.
“For half of the connections studied, Greenpeace calculated that the plane trip is at least sixty times more emitting than the same train trip!
And yet the Paris-Marseille, Paris-Nice or Paris-Toulouse connections (the three most carbon-emitting connections in 2019) will not be affected by the ban planned by the government.
This makes the Climate Action Network (RAC) say that the measure carried by Barbara Pompili, the Minister for Ecological Transition, will have very few concrete effects.
"The government's plan to abolish flights within 2h30 by train would only reduce CO2 emissions from metropolitan flights by 6.6% and emissions from all flights departing from France by 0.5%. , emphasizes the RAC.
Only five domestic air connections out of the existing 108 would be affected.
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Less polluting alternatives
"For short flights, less polluting alternatives, such as the train, are often already available and / or can be further developed", insists Sarah Fayolle, transport campaign manager at Greenpeace France.
“But the government is clearly not doing enough on the subject.
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The Climate Action Network has calculated that eliminating flights that take place in less than five hours by train would reduce CO2 emissions from domestic flights by more than 60% and emissions from all flights by 4.5%. from France.
In this case, 39 air connections out of the existing 108 would be affected.
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"The measure proposed in the bill resulting from the Citizens' Convention has no climate ambition, and the modalities of its implementation and its real impact raise questions," says Sarah Fayolle.
To preserve the air lobby, the Minister of Transport refuses to really tackle the real problem.
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