I've signed up - how about you?

Sorry but I flew to the UK at least 5 times this year to visit my dying mother and have since flown at least twice, to her funeral, and then to help with the house clearing..

I am flying to the US next week for the 2nd time this year to look after my DGS whilst his little brother is born. (The first time was to give DS and DiL a break as they have no one out there) In fact, I haven't had a holiday this year yet.

Next year I hope to get to the UK by car (if foreigners will be allowed in by then). Not really sure how I can cut down at the moment.

That sounds ideal, Jura2 but most of us don’t live near the centres of transport. As it happens, my son lives only four miles from Heathrow and we live about 35mins from our local airport. The quickest way for us to visit him is by air and it works out cheaper.

In fact, we rarely fly down now but the other methods of travel are very expensive. It’s often cheaper to buy a flight than a train ticket and there are only two direct trains a day. We then have to get out of central London to his nearest train station and then get a taxi to his house. It’s a full days travel, too, well in excess of 12 hours, door to door.

We generally drive down now, although the cost of that mounts up, with fuel and meals on the road, tolls and so on, plus the sheer boredom of motorway driving.

I am a curmudgeon, I have no time for these smug virtue signalling 'sign ups'. Life just isn't that simple. The only people signing for it will be people who have no need or desire to fly anyway.

As this thread has shown, when family live overseas, and for a host of other reasons, some people simply cannot sign up to pledges like this. This doesn't mean that they are less committed to the need to reduce global warming, they are probably doing more by quietly making changes in their lives in other ways - and may well have been doing it for much longer.

JackyB, so sorry to hear. I flew so many times in an emergency when my mum was very poorly and at the time of her final demise - so I feel for you.

And of course, that is totally right. There are times in life when it is possible to re-think, re-assess and make changes if possible. And there are times, when it is just not possible- that is fair enough.

Never flown anywhere.
Couldn’t afford to if I wanted to, either.

Jennifer Eccles, I’m a Guardian reader. Don’t be so rude and judgemental . You have no idea what my views on this are.
Honestly, gransnet is becoming increasingly unpleasant. We can’t even discuss what small actions we can each take to protect our planet without snide digs, none of which will persuade anyone to take a wider view on anything.

I think there are many factors which influence the environment, not just flying. Flying, car pollution, destroying forests, plastics, consumerism, overbuilding on land etc etc I'm sure there are other factors.

I fly on holiday - but I don't drive. I shop and use too much plastic (packaging) which is hard to eliminate. I use soya wax for candles. I recycle as much as possible (my council have stopped collecting food waste due to cost).

I don't do enough and would love to do more

Surely there must be some middle way? Something between smug boasting about holidays and so called virtue signaling?

Can't people read a few papers and gather information and ideas from many sources?

I feel quite guilty about flying to Bristol maybe every 7 weeks or so. I’d much prefer to go by train but I can’t afford it! It’s crazy that flying is cheaper than the train. This is to visit one daughter and 3 grandchildren. They lived in OZ for 15 years so I’m happy I can see them more frequently. This daughter has had a very rough time for the last 3 years, so I’ve given as much support as I can.

Daughter no 1 lives in NZ so I visit annually in January by flying for 4 weeks. Daughter no. 3 has two children and I live within a 2 bus journey so generally take the bus unless it’s going to be a late evening, especially in the winter months as I’m a bit wary about being out and about after dark.

Most of my spare cash is spent visiting family. I do so appreciate being loved and wanted by all of them.

Having said all that, I feel guilty in travelling so much by flying, especially to Bristol but for me it’s a matter of economy. I just can’t face the idea of a 10 hour coach journey at a similar cost to flying. It just doesn’t make sense.

I do wish that public transport was more efficient and affordable because if I could, I’d restrict my flying to the NZ visit. DH and I only go on camping holidays in the UK as they are the cheapest way of getting away for short breaks. With limited income we have to make the most of what we have.

I don’t see why numerous business meetings couldn’t take place over the net!

Quaintirene, in your circumstances I would immediately sign up for this silly bit of greenwash, just for the fun of it and to show how ludicrous it is.

I am another perfect partner for this initative. I do not fly - and haven't for, perhaps, six or seven years. I hate airports and much prefer to travel by train.

There is no better way of making yourself look good than signing up to not do something you never intended to do anyway.

ayse- where do you travel from, I wonder? Yes, it is crazy about trains being more expensive than flying- and again, it is a political choice. And something which will be reversed in the near future, I hope. However, if you travel regularly and avoid Fridays and book well in advance - does it not cut cost down a lot? With TGV and Eurostar, if we book well in advance and go off peak- it is much cheaper than flying- when you count all (like getting to airport, parking, etc, etc).

One of my biggest gripes is people flying overseas to get married or to sporting events. It's ridiculous.

The carbon footprint of F1 racing - flying all those cars, computers, people - to the next location around the world must be phenomenal and then there’s the racing itself.

F1 is the thing for me too Urmstongran- when they stop that I’ll stop flying.....

Hi, Jura. It’s so difficult because I fit in with my children’s childcare needs. I’d be happy to book in advance but they have ex husbands who don’t seem to understand that both of them needs to work, even if there are school holidays. I travel from the NE and would happily book in advance, if only I knew what was going on. I just want to help them both out as much as I can. Hopefully it will settle in the not too distant future but it’s like living with a ticking bomb. I never know when I’m going to be needed. Life is a little problematic sometimes

I don't fly - basically because I hate it; so no virtue signalling here!

But I do get a bit irritated by all the business flights whose purpose could just as easily be achieved electronically.

Our DS, his partner and my GS are all in New Zealand. I would happily sign up to not taking flights anywhere else. but the thought of never being able to see them again fills me with dread. I worry that movements like this will make it socially unacceptable and financially impossible for us to see our family.

I won’t be signing. And I agree with everything Iam said.

My DD was required by her employer to fly (within the EU) to give a 28 minute presentation. It had to be 28 mins exactly, as all the other speakers had the same time slot during the day of presentations. Had she refused she would have lost her next contract, and she did win the big government contract for her employer, but how ludicrous was that?

Until big business makes huge changes e.g. with travel requirements, product packaging and industrial processes and waste disposal, there is a limit to what the responsible individual/family can do.

P.S: I was heartened to hear my friend's grandchildren had included in their list to Santa, 'but please no plastics'. There's a challenge for the adults in the family.

And what are we up against here? Big business in sporting events worldwide.

The world title boxing match in Saudi last night saw a huge open air stadium, built in two months to accommodate 150,000 people at a cost of $200 million which was for ONE NIGHT only! Yep, just the event itself. It is being dismantled today.

ayse, oh I understand this - it is often very difficult to organise dates in advance - and yes, they leave it to the last minute ... I know x

There is no ONE solution - so I won't be signing, as said. However I see no problem with all of us assessing our flying/travelling record- and see if we can make positive changes that help reduce our carbon footprint.

If someone's reaction is to say 'oh those do-gooders really get up my nose, so next year I'll fly even more, just to annoy them' - well, I am not sure your grandchildren will thank you

My son lives in Canada, so if we didn't fly we wouldn't see each other.

Yes agreed Jura. DD3 is very much into re-use, recycle and buy 2nd hand etc. I do my best as well. Biggest plastic consumption is fruit and veg packets. Even the local market packs many things in plastic. I do what I can and I think it would make a big difference if everybody did their bit

I regularly visit Scotland, Ireland and Germany (family and friends there.) From now on I will endeavour to use other means of getting there rather than flying.
But I feel like somewhere warm next year and hope I can be forgiven just one flight (and one back home again!)
I'm doing my best to cut down plastic use etc, just like most of us are.