Q: Given that I’m in regular Skype contact with my family in Australia, and given the fossil-fuelled climate crisis we are already experiencing, should I succumb to my brother’s entreaties that I go and visit them? He’s even offering to pay for the flight. (And he’s a tight bastard, normally!) Yours, Infrequent Flyer.
A: In Sweden they call it flygskam, ‘flying shame’. It relates to a small but growing lifestyle decision made by activists, scientists and others: keeping one’s feet firmly on the ground. The hope is that if flying becomes socially toxic, like smoking while pregnant or ‘old-fashioned’ attitudes towards sexuality, then we can start combating climate breakdown.
