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France MPs vote to ban domestic flights as part of climate pledge

French MPs have voted to axe domestic flights on routes that can be travelled by train in less than two and a half hours. Macron’s climate commission now looks set to up the ante throughout 2021.

As of April 10th, the French government has declared a ban on short domestic flights where other transport options are available.

Specifically, the new legislation states that flights across the nation which can be travelled by rail services in less than two and a half hours will be scrapped.

This signals the end of popular domestic flights from the south of Paris to Nantes and Bordeaux, though the bill states connecting flights through Charles de Gaulle north of the French capital will continue.

Arriving as a watered down version of President Emmanuel Macron’s initial proposal, which recommended the banning of all flights where rail services could offer alternate journeys under four hours, several airlines and French states strongly objected and eventually settled on this new compromise.

Throughout the last year, the aviation industry has frequently butted heads with climate campaigners. Internationally, airlines have tittered on the edge of financial collapse due to travel restrictions, while NGOs and climate activists have hastened demands for stronger environmental action – as our 2030 carbon reduction targets draw closer.

Socialist MPs led by Joel Aviragnet claimed in a heated standoff that domestic flight bans will have a ‘disproportionate human cost’ in terms of job losses in the travel sector. The Green party meanwhile bemoaned decisions to cut the threshold from four hours to two and a half, claiming the initial proposal would’ve halted routes responsible for emitting ‘the most greenhouse gases.’

A year back, one of the France’s biggest airliners Air France-KLM committed to reducing its domestic routes by 40% having received a €7bn loan to keep the company afloat throughout COVID-19, and this new ‘climate resilience’ bill will demand similar cooperation from its competitors.

Having passed in the National Assembly, the bill – which aims to contribute to a 40% drop of national emissions by 2030 – will now reach the Senate, followed by a final vote in the lower house. Do the right thing La République!

How environmental activists will view the new proposal remains to be seen. Just last month, nine Greenpeace members were arrested for scaling a Boeing 777 and plastering green paint over its exterior as an act of defiance against greenwashing gimmicks. Speaking of which, will this proposal be deemed another one?

Whether or not the decree is drastic enough to appease campaigners remains to be seen, however there’s no denying that the bill will have positive impact in denting the country’s overall emissions. On average, a plane emits 77 times more CO2 per passenger than that of a train, so halting upwards of ten domestic flights a day will make a difference.

France’s new law will now be watched closely by other powerhouses across Europe. Austria has already announced a €30 tax on flights of less than 217 miles and a ban on domestic flights achievable via train journeys under three hours.

Beyond this, the Netherlands continues to push for a similar bill. Since 2013 Dutch MPs have wanted to stop low mileage flights between Amsterdam and Brussels, though a successful vote in 2019 was overturned due to the EU’s commission free movement regulations.

Allowing internal flights to continue happening everyday across a nation roughly the size of Texas isn’t ideal, yet Macron’s revised bill may be a trailblazer for other nations to take up similar initiatives.

Your immediate reaction may well be a cynical one, but don’t get it twisted, widespread shifts in the aviation industry on a global scale would represent a massive win for the climate.

In the ultimate game of going carbon neutral, this news definitely falls under the ‘positive, but not perfect’ category.

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