This week, I'm heading to France on behalf of the French Ministry for European and Foreign Affairs "Future Leaders Invitation Programme". Each year, the French Ministry invites 75 people from around the world to France to give future leaders from the political world and civil society the opportunity to spend time in France to hold high-level meetings relating to their interests. I'm told I'm one of only 11 Irish people to receive this prestigious trip in the 50 years the French Government have been running this programme. -Minister Paschal Donohoe and Senator Lynn Ruane being two of Ireland's more notable past recipients.
I've asked to spend the week meeting France's most successful climate policy professionals and learning about some of their innovative programmes, particularly in the areas of food and agriculture, which I feel we can learn a lot from in Ireland. I'll be blogging about those (socially distant) meetings throughout the week so more on that later.
In the meantime, I'm writing from Stena Line's Rosslare to Cherbourg ferry in an effort to keep my carbon footprint as low as possible for this trip. For those that doubt the climate benefit of going over land and sea versus flying, I've done the math for this trip (because that's just how nerdy I am), and it turns out that I've saved a considerable about of CO2 compared to flying even with the added distance:
I've asked to spend the week meeting France's most successful climate policy professionals and learning about some of their innovative programmes, particularly in the areas of food and agriculture, which I feel we can learn a lot from in Ireland. I'll be blogging about those (socially distant) meetings throughout the week so more on that later.
In the meantime, I'm writing from Stena Line's Rosslare to Cherbourg ferry in an effort to keep my carbon footprint as low as possible for this trip. For those that doubt the climate benefit of going over land and sea versus flying, I've done the math for this trip (because that's just how nerdy I am), and it turns out that I've saved a considerable about of CO2 compared to flying even with the added distance:
While the greenhouse gas emissions from a relatively short trip like this pale in comparison to a round trip, economy class transatlantic flight (1,700 kg per person return), I've nonetheless more than halved my emissions by choosing to travel by ferry instead of plane. To put this in a financial perspective, generally, when I do have to fly for some reason, I make a donation to my favourite climate charity (Friends of the Earth) based on the social cost of the carbon emissions (approx. EUR 200 per tonne of CO2). In this case, I've saved EUR 50 in carbon by going overland instead of flying. If we actually paid a carbon tax on jet fuel (we don't, bizarrely), it would create greater price parity between flying and traveling overland and sea and create more of a business case for the slower route.
Miraculously, my propensity for sea sickness has stayed at bay thanks to relatively calm seas, and I actually enjoyed the feeling of being rocked to sleep in my cabin and I woke feeling abnormally refreshed. I can't say I am missing airport security and being packed in a plane like cattle at all, and I'm getting a lot more work done (and Netflix binging) without any distractions during my time on the ship.
With many more ferry routes opening up between Ireland and France care of Brexit, I could see "slow travel" being a much more popular way to travel to our closest European neighbour. If Irish Rail could just get the train times to Rosslare aligned to the ferry departures (hint, hint), it would be a winning combination. There's also a need for the ferry companies to provide greater transparency about the emissions from their ships as those vary considerably based on boat design, number of passengers, goods on board, etc., and my calculations were based on relatively crude estimates rather than real numbers from the boat I am currently on. However, all we can do is our best, and I'm happy enough with my best for this particular trip.
By the end of today, I'll be in beautiful Paris and looking forward to a jam packed itinerary for a whole week of precious learning. Stay tuned and keep fighting the good fight!
-Cara
Miraculously, my propensity for sea sickness has stayed at bay thanks to relatively calm seas, and I actually enjoyed the feeling of being rocked to sleep in my cabin and I woke feeling abnormally refreshed. I can't say I am missing airport security and being packed in a plane like cattle at all, and I'm getting a lot more work done (and Netflix binging) without any distractions during my time on the ship.
With many more ferry routes opening up between Ireland and France care of Brexit, I could see "slow travel" being a much more popular way to travel to our closest European neighbour. If Irish Rail could just get the train times to Rosslare aligned to the ferry departures (hint, hint), it would be a winning combination. There's also a need for the ferry companies to provide greater transparency about the emissions from their ships as those vary considerably based on boat design, number of passengers, goods on board, etc., and my calculations were based on relatively crude estimates rather than real numbers from the boat I am currently on. However, all we can do is our best, and I'm happy enough with my best for this particular trip.
By the end of today, I'll be in beautiful Paris and looking forward to a jam packed itinerary for a whole week of precious learning. Stay tuned and keep fighting the good fight!
-Cara
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