People in Germany are slowly, but surely changing their social behavior influenced by flight shame. Malte Kleinwort, a German-speaking academic, joined a group of 3,000 academics in Germany who have pledged not to fly distances under 1,000 km. Instead, they decided to travel by train in order to protect the environment. Malte Kleinwort was inspired by the Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg. This way, people are able to give their own contribution to the planet’s preservation.
In fact, a survey conducted for UBS investment bank found 23% of German respondents cancelled at least one flight in the past year for environmental reasons. Still, this does not mean that German travellers do not travel all. It means that for destinations within the country they prefer the trains.
Not every German-speaking person experiences flight shame. For instance, Lars Corsten, who is a travel consultant, believes that flight shame should not be experienced, however he claims that other travel options should be made more attractive and more practical.
