The French government confirms to ban short flight destinations to which the train could easily reach within 2.4 hours to reduce carbon emissions. It will impose new rules to encourage citizens to use the French high-speed trains, known as TGV.
France is becoming the first country in the European Union bloc to impose the rule of reducing carbon emissions. In 2021, the French parliament voted to favour the suspension of short domestic flights if the same journey could be completed by train within an hour and a half or less to reduce carbon emissions.
In November 2021, Jean Baptiste Djebbari, the French Minister of Transport, stated that France has a specific railway network, including many high-speed trains, suitable for travellers to visit in or outside the country.
Furthermore, Djebbari asserted that It’s possible that we have the discussion [at an EU level], but so far, we have a national approach, given the national railway network.
France currently has 2800 kilometres of high-speed trains connecting destinations like London, Amsterdam, and Frankfurt. Still, it does not restrict flights with them even though those destinations are easily accessible by train.
In addition, AirFrance, which is the flag carrier of France, in January 2022, became the first airline to introduce additional biofuel tariffs, with other airlines aiming to follow suit.
In a statement issued on 11 January, the Greenpeace European Unit said that the European Commission is trying to identify specific activities for fossil and nuclear gas as sustainable investments in the EU taxonomy of green economic activity, urging the Commission to focus more on rail than plane travel.
The statements also revealed that according to the European Commission, nuclear projects launched in 2045 with a construction permit would be allowed for private investment and provided they show plans for radioactive waste management.
