Is travel bad for the planet?

An effort to understand the latest green shaming wave

If you love to travel, these are morally overwhelming times, with many heated discussions on the topic, especially after Greta Thunberg’s zero-carbon journey to the US last year. Travel is getting a lot of attention in the discussion for a good reason. The industry is heavily dependent on transportation, consequently heavily dependent on fossil fuels. Transportation increased its emissions by 30% in this century, which is the biggest emission growth in emissions so far.

By now you might have realized that reducing emissions is a much harder task then what people are stating on Instagram, I would dare say unrealistic. And even when we succeed we understand quickly that we need more than individual shifts to make the needed transformations on a global level. It's not me, it's not that company. The entire economy, not only travel, has to be decarbonized.

Among all the industries, travel is being targeted by the media with more enthusiasm, since it is often related to self-indulgence and is aesthetically appealing, making it the perfect victim for green shaming. Even Greta herself got massive critics saying that her trips were zero-carbon, but not really.