Travel Policies that Rule Out Air Travel
We want all Scottish organisations (in the public, private and voluntary sectors) to put in place robust travel policies that rule out air travel, except in exceptional circumstances, to destinations in mainland Britain.
It’s time for the talk about climate change to stop, and for some real and immediate action instead. We want all Scottish organisations - including but not limited to the Scottish Government - to lead by example and commit to ruling out flying, except in exceptional circumstances, for trips within mainland Britain.
For trips between the Scottish Central Belt and London, rail emits a quarter of the emissions from equivalent journeys by plane (or by car). Rail offers significant productivity benefits over air as it offers a high-quality environment for working while on the move. Some organisations are of course going even further and avoiding travelling at all through the use of videoconferencing and other new technologies.
The Greater London Authority has already put in place a policy which rules out air travel to British and some northern European destinations, and which sets out rail as being the preferred mode of transport for staff trips within a 6-hour door-to-door travel time from their headquarters. We now want to see Scottish organisations follow this lead.