Climate hysteria has literally taken off, just like the airplanes we are shamed into using. Not unexpectedly, it is neither constructive nor effective to fling around with disgrace, nor does it work when it comes to the body, dialect, choice of boyfriend or pineapple on the pizza. Maybe time to retire flying shame too? Not least because we should actually fly more for the sake of the climate. It doesn’t sound particularly logical, let me try to explain: The elephant in the room is the world’s defense. Climate emissions related to the operation of all military forces are exempt from the Kyoto and Paris agreements. A gigantic mud hole. The argument is that such information can reveal military secrets and strength relationships between the great powers. Estimates vary, but we are talking about between 6 and 13.5 per cent of the world’s emissions. We have just left the most turbulent era in modern history, the first 22 years of this century. Since then, it has exploded in Ukraine, Sudan and Palestine. The first year of the war around the Dnipro river, for example, led to 155 million tonnes of new greenhouse gases. This is 48 per cent of the increase in global emissions from the previous year. In addition, the pollution comes in connection with the reconstruction of the country after the war. Fear of the Russian bear has at the same time led to rearmament in large parts of the world, of course also on the Russian-friendly side. Never has more money been spent on bombs and grenades. NOK 24,500 billion is 50 per cent more than the entire oil fund. The need for reconciliation between nations, people and cultures is precarious and we must work hard and actively to get the world back to pre-Putina aggressive levels. As soon as possible, defense arguments for an ever-larger defense budget must become history. There will also be a time after the KGB dictator. Unfortunately, it is not enough to just put pressure on the authorities. Many of them are led by strong men with big egos and a high degree of population control. It’s time to harness consumer power to the extreme. You and I must take responsibility and book longer and fewer flights, not more. Gunnar Garfors has visited every country in the world twice. Here in a small plane over Guyana. Photo: Privat Because we have to travel more out of the western bubble we belong to, a safe playground blessed with well-functioning infrastructure, good forms of governance, high average salaries, long holidays and strong passports. To understand other cultures, see ourselves from the outside, form friendships, counter hostility, build trade cooperation and lower our shoulders. In 2020, it would have been enough to build bridges in this way. After warmongering on steroids, we must first step up footpaths, repair village roads and plan autostradas. Better communication and closer friendships across borders will help to lower the level of conflict between us and the unknown, the slightly scary countries we don’t really know much about. Inside the bubble, in the Western world, we are mostly well satisfied and well reconciled. Instead of making NATO increasingly threatening to those who are not allowed to join, or imposing our values on others through soft power, we as ordinary citizens must take responsibility and reach out to like-minded people in Congo, Kiribati or Russia. Once there, even confident and shy Norwegians need the courage to make contact with those who live there. Because if we don’t participate in conversations and activities together with the locals, the trips are reduced to pure observation stays that add nothing more than extra hearts on Instagram or TikTok from people at home. Interaction, cooperation and solidarity are essential, and cannot be outsourced to politicians and others who saw the trip on the travel bill. As a bonus, each long-distance kilometer pollutes far less than if there is a short time between departure and arrival. Aviation fuel burns faster uphill. But by all means, while we wait for electric jumbo jets, planes still emit exhaust and misery. About as much as the internet does, but only half of the textile industry, a quarter of the emissions from meat production or perhaps as little as just under a seventh of the world’s military powers. Airline passengers also pay environmental fees, cyber trolls, skirt hunters, meat eaters or snipers do not. I am not looking to point out non-travel-related emissions in order to clear my conscience. The essential thing is to contribute to change across the board, to reduce greenhouse gas production and raise awareness within all industries. If the world’s politicians put down an international ban on flying tomorrow, we will eliminate a measly 2 percent of climate emissions. If we instead cut 20–40 per cent within cattle, defence, fashion, factory production and Facebook use and flying, then the CO2 amounts will be reduced ten to twenty times as much. When we first travel by plane, it should therefore be on a long trip to build friendships in other countries. Then we would rather stimulate local hotel and restaurant owners in Bujumbura than billionaires who own chains in Berlin. Traveling off the beaten track beats in so many ways a dozen weekend trips a year to New York, Paris and London. And between the distant destinations, we can just as well eat at eminent restaurants and make use of pioneering accommodation options here at home as make pilgrimages to western cities.
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We must fly more – Statement
