The environmental impact of human activities is glaringly evident, especially in the realm of travel. Pioneering research led by experts at the University of Leeds has brought to light the frequently underestimated emissions associated with long-distance travel. This groundbreaking research offers a fresh, compelling perspective on the significant role of travel in exacerbating the pressing climate crisis.
The data reveals that while UK residents take fewer trips of over 50 miles, these longer journeys are responsible for a disproportionately high 70% of carbon emissions. This divide is even more pronounced for international travel, accounting for just 0.4% of total trips but contributing 55% of emissions.
Recent findings in the journal Nature Energy suggest that addressing long-distance travel could be a more impactful approach to reducing emissions compared to current efforts focusing on local and commuter travel.
Although domestic car journeys, both long and short, have decreased marginally over the past 25 years, there has been a notable surge in international air travel, largely due to a rise in leisure and visiting friends and family trips.
“The scale of the impact of long-distance travel is very large indeed. That just less than 3% of our trips are responsible for around 60% of miles and 70% of emissions shows how important long-distance travel is in the fight to combat climate change,” said Dr. Zia Wadud from the University’s Institute for Transport Studies and School of Chemical and Process Engineering and who led the research. “Worryingly, long-distance trips, especially flights, have been growing; however, they offer opportunities too.”
The research team has introduced a new metric, emission reduction sensitivity, to identify which changes in travel behaviors can maximize carbon emission reductions with minimal impact on people and trips. Their findings reveal that shifting all car journeys under eight miles to walking or cycling could result in a significant 9.3% reduction in carbon emissions.
However, this shift would require changing around 55% of all journeys, as local car travel constitutes the majority. The calculated emission reduction sensitivity for this change is just 0.17, the lowest in the study.
Moving all flights of less than 1,000 miles to rail would lead to a 5.6% reduction in emissions, with only 0.17% of journeys being affected, resulting in a sensitivity value of 33.2.
Limiting everyone who currently flies to one return flight abroad per year would result in a value of 158.3, as very few journeys would be impacted.
The researchers stress that these potential changes are merely suggestions intended to prompt us to recognize and reevaluate the impact of our long-distance travel rather than specific policy recommendations.
Dr Muhammad Adeel, a co-author now at the Centre for Transport and Society at the University of the West of England, added: “Whilst efforts to move local journeys to more sustainable modes of transport are really positive, by omitting aviation emissions from national statistics – as is the case at the moment in nearly all countries – we are not getting a holistic picture and ignoring a large part of the problem.”
The researchers are also optimistic that their discoveries can serve as a catalyst for policymakers to consider changes in how resources are allocated when addressing the environmental impact of travel.
The information was gathered from the National Travel Survey of the Department for Transport and the International Passenger Survey, conducted by the Office for National Statistics.
The study also provides the public with a glimpse into the potential impact of altering their behavior.
Dr Wadud added: “The important thing both at the policy and personal level is that we prioritise the relatively fewer longer distance trips – especially flights – in order to realize the largest reductions.”
Journal reference:
- Zia Wadud, Muhammad Adeel & Jillian Anable. Understanding the large role of long-distance travel in carbon emissions from passenger travel. Nature Energy, 2024; DOI: 10.1038/s41560-024-01561-3