Consumers plan to fly less as climate change concerns hit home

Europeans plan to fly less in 2020 in response to concerns about climate change, according to research from the European Investment Bank.

In its second EIB climate change survey, the organization reveals that 75% of Europeans say they will fly less, while 36% say they already fly less for holidays to fight climate change.

In China, the figure for those planning to fly less in 2020 is 94%, while in the United States, 69% of survey participants say they plan to fly less.

The study, of 30,000 carried out in October 2019, also reveals attitudes to public transport, with 64% of Europeans prepared to choose it over driving.

For China, the figure is 93%, while for the U.S., 49% would be prepared to take public transport over driving.

The study goes on to look at views on the current greatest threats, with the climate crisis emerging as the top threat for Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany and Austria.

Meanwhile, those in southern European countries see unemployment as the biggest issue they face.

However, it is those living in southern European countries that say climate change has a higher impact on their daily lives - 94% in Italy and 87% in Spain - compared to 63% in Denmark and 66% in Sweden.

In a separate report, Swedish airport authority Swedavia attributes a 4% decline to 40 million in passenger numbers in 2019 to a number of factors, including concerns about the climate.

The authority says a 9% decrease to domestic passengers of 12.4 million was more marked than for international traffic, which decreased 2% to 28 million.