Exclusive:
The Mirror’s new interactive holiday carbon footprint tool lets you see how big an impact your holidays are having on the environment and how you might be able to change it
A new exclusive Mirror tool lets you find out if you’re a holiday eco saint or a traveller with a monster carbon footprint.
Heading off on holidays is usually amazing fun and a highlight of the year for many people. Not only can it provide a much needed chance to unwind and de-stress from the everyday routine, time away often makes it easier to reconnect with loved ones.
The bad news is that there are popular ways of travelling which can be damaging for the environment. For those in the UK who can afford to jet off on a break once or twice a year, often the single most polluting thing they’ll do is flying to a holiday destination. This is because commercial jets use a huge amount of fuel which releases emissions including carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides.
Being armed with the facts on which forms of travel are the greenest and dirtiest can help you plan your holiday in as informed a way as possible.
The figures used in our data come from the UK Government’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. While there may be some differences across countries based on their own electricity mix, vehicle stock, and public transport network, the tool is a useful guide when it comes to working out how green you are as a traveller.
Greenhouse gases are measured in carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) – a measure which accounts for non-CO2 greenhouse gases and the increased warming effects of aviation emissions at high altitudes. Our guide shows tonnes of CO2 equivalents. The average Brit is responsible for around 13 tonnes of CO2e each year according to Carbon Independent, which is three times that of the world’s average. Almost all climate scientists agree that both figures must be reduced significantly – and quickly – if the worst impacts of climate change are to be avoided.
If you are determined to keep your carbon footprint low when travelling, then there are plenty of ways to do it.
Instead of flying to Europe, travelling via land based transport will likely be greener so long as you’re not driving by yourself – even though it may take a little longer. A car with four people in it will be at least half as polluting per passenger than flying. Train travel is almost always greener than travelling by plane, and often many times so.
For example, a return flight from London to Paris is around 700km of travelling and will produce an estimated 0.11 tonnes of CO2e, according to our calculator. That figure drops to just 0.03 tonnes when taking the train. A car produces 0.12 tonnes – more than flying, but the more people in that vehicle, the smaller that per passenger figure becomes.
Europe has an extensive rail network meaning that almost every destination is accessible by train. Not only will this reduce your carbon emissions but it will also give you the opportunity to see some of the spectacular scenery that the Continent has to offer.
Taking the Eurostar from London to Paris allows access to the rest of the European Rail Network. Other options when it comes to reaching Europe without flying include boarding a ferry to cross the English Channel or taking your car on the Eurotunnel.
France’s trains are among the least polluting in the world due to the country’s embrace of very low emission nuclear energy, while Germany’s are much dirtier largely because of its rejection of nuclear and reliance on coal.
The good news for the eco-minded traveller is that train travel on the European Continent should become easier in the coming years. The European Commission has set a target of doubling the length of high-speed rail lines by 2030, and increasing rail’s share of passenger transport to 50% by 2050.
The bad news is that choosing the greener option is often more expensive than the more polluting one. Tax breaks for airlines such as a 50% cut in domestic air passenger duty introduced by Rishi Sunak and the 0% tax rate on kerosene for jets allow them to keep ticket prices very low. Train and ferry companies on the other hand often pay significant rates of tax on their fuel sources.
While the French government made history last year by banning certain domestic flights to encourage people onto trains, neither the Conservative or Labour parties in the UK have suggested they have plans to do similar.
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