Flygskam: Flight Shame in Sweden

The Swedish buzzword: flygskam, has taken off in 2019 – it translates literally as “flight shame”. It reflects the anti-flying movement sweeping across northern Europe – just as air travel, once an epitome of coolness, is losing its glamour. It demonstrates the growing sentiment in the guilt felt by individuals for their individual contributions to the climate crisis via air travel. This neologism reflects the feeling of guilt felt by Swedish over the environmental effects of flying.

Tagskyrt: Travel by Train over Air

This movement originated under ironic circumstances in Sweden – whilst the country total CO₂ emissions have reduced by 24% since 1990, there was a 61% increase in air traffic simultaneously. In a country where people fly seven times more than the average global citizen, more and more Swedes (mostly young) opt for the choice of the train to travel.

Flygskam has sprung into a global movement where people pledge to fly less and opt to travel by train instead of the plane. In Sweden, flygskam, has given way to tagskyrt – Swedes express the pride of travelling by train. Travelling by train is a greener means of transport and this trains-over-planes movement serves to ease their conscience. The choice to make an eco-conscious decision also raise awareness on the toll air travel has impacted the environment. Air travel has the biggest climate footprint “per distance travelled”, whilst train travel, bus rides and carpooling are greener alternatives. Raising educational awareness on the environmental damage from air travel can arouse guilt and travellers may engage in a guilt-alleviation mechanism by opting a different behaviour more in line with their self-concept or social norm.  This involves making eco-conscious decisions, and, there are signs indicating that the environmental guilt felt by Swedes have manifested in their change in travel habits.

A 17% spike in the number of people (20% to 37%) expressing their choice for trains instead of flights in the 18-month period till May 2019. As Swedes engage interest in “climate-smart travel,” Sweden experienced its weakest overall growth in passenger number in a decade, whilst passenger number at the state train operator jumped to a record of 32 million last year.

Number of Train Passengers in Sweden

 

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