Flight Free UK is a people-powered campaign which asks people to agree not to fly in the year of 2020 – knowing that 100,000 others have pledged to do the same. It’s about taking collective responsibility to reduce the amount we fly in order to lessen our impact on the planet.
Flying less is one of the most powerful ways we as individuals can reduce our carbon footprint, and with experts predicting that we have just a handful of years to take meaningful action on climate change, there has never been a better time to address the issue.
Many of us fly without a second thought – it is an ingrained part of our culture, and a part of our global society, as people, goods and services are transported around the globe. Flight Free UK aims to raise awareness of the impact of those flights and inspire people to take action.
It is easy to think that individual actions don’t make a difference, and not to bother trying. But if we can show that there are 100,000 people who are prepared to take an air-free year, we send a clear signal to industry and politicians – and also to each other – that there are many who are willing to change their lifestyles to protect the climate.
Why Flight Free?
In 2016 airlines carried 3.7 billion passengers. This is set to rise to more than 7 billion by 2035. At the same time, climate scientists are warning that we have less than 12 years to make a significant reduction in our carbon emissions in order to avoid catastrophic climate change.
Flying is the fastest growing cause of climate change. If aviation was a country, it would be the 7th worst polluter globally. Brits already fly more than the people of any other nation – twice as much as Americans.* Even if we take other steps to be environmentally friendly, one flight can completely wipe out all the other savings.
While technology is being developed to make aviation less polluting, for example through bio fuels and electric planes, the only meaningful way to reduce emissions is to not fly in the first place. And we can’t rely on policy-makers; even though the UK has targets to reduce emissions by 80% by 2050, tax on air travel remains low, and the aviation sector only continues to expand.
The climate crisis is acute – climate change is already affecting communities, wildlife and the natural world across the globe. We must act now to take meaningful action in order to preserve the planet, and all who rely on it for their survival.
*data from afreeride.org
Make the pledge to be flight-free in 2020
#flightfree2020
Sign the pledge and join the growing number of people who will be flight-free in 2020.
When you sign up your name will automatically be counted towards the total signatories.* Your email address will be added to our mailing list where you’ll receive one email per month updating you on the campaign. You may unsubscribe at any time, but we’ll still hold your data otherwise your pledge won’t be counted. For information on how we use your data, please see our Privacy Policy.
*For your signature to count towards the 100,000, you must be a UK resident. If you select a different country your pledge will be held on the database as an international pledge.
Not flying doesn’t mean not travelling…
Where to go
