[Vidéo] Eco-friendly travel: is it accessible to everyone?

Traveling by plane or car pollutes. In 2023,the transport sector represented 34% of French emissionswith 126.8 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, according to the associationGet tired. 94% of these emissions are due to road transport and 53% come from travel by individuals by car.

By integrating non-CO2 effects, the share of aviation emissions rises to 25% of the carbon footprint of the French transport sector. Generally speaking,air travel is the most polluting means of transport per kilometer traveled. It emits 259 grams of CO2 per kilometer on average compared to 218 grams of CO2 per kilometer for the thermal car and 103 grams for an electric car including vehicle manufacturing. The train emits on average between 3 and 30 grams of CO2 per kilometer and per passenger, depending on whether or not the line is electrified.

 

Read also: Infographic: which means of transport should you choose for this summer?

 

Faced with this observation, initiatives are emerging to offer more environmentally friendly modes of travel. Can they, however, become accessible to all to truly decarbonize our travels on a collective scale? Carenews went to meet two of them on Monday March 30, at the Changenow exhibition in Paris, dedicated to solutions for the ecological and social transition. Â

 

 

There are not enough trains today in Europe. Cross-border connections are quite limited ”.

Marc Sahuguet

« We created a travel blog, bringing together all the European destinations that people fly to today in order to make them accessible by train“, explains Marc Sahuguet, product director within the media dedicated to rail travel, Hourrail!. “This is the best lever we can act on.» to reduce the use of planes in Western Europe, he assures.

However, the development of train travel faces several difficulties. The number of trains in circulation on the one hand, and the price of tickets on the other. “There are not enough trains today in Europe. Cross-border connections are quite limited“, deplores Marc Sahuguet. In addition to the development of high-speed lines, the media representative emphasizes the need to set up night train networks to facilitate the choice of train over distances greater than 2,000 kilometers.

For trips on a European scale, “in 80% of cases, it is often more expensive to take a train », estimate-il. «ÂBut there are still destinations at equivalent or cheaper prices, especially if you book in advance, benefit from promotions that companies regularly do or take advantage of good deals, for example during ticket launches.he emphasizes. And because the journey time is longer, Hurrail! encourages people to divide their journey into several stages. “To go to Istanbul for example, I went through Austria, Hungary and Bulgaria. I found myself going on a whole journey meeting people of different nationalities.”he highlights.

In order to facilitate travel in Europe, the media has developed an application which it is preparing to launch. The latter, accessible by a subscription of 39 euros per year, will allow you to reserve your tickets with the different European railway companies and will bring together the different promotions available.

 

Read also: These guides who want to make slow travel accessible to everyone

Making the trip part of the vacation is also what Sailcoop, a cooperative society of collective interest (Scic) offering, organizing sailing trips, offers.

Prices vary from 50 euros to go to the Glénan archipelago in Brittany, around 250 euros to connect Corsica and the continent or 3,000 euros to travel to Baltimore in the United States in twelve days. “These prices include a place in the cabin and meals », précise Stéphane Diérick, co-fondateur de Sailcoop. En 2025, la coopérative a transporté plus de 18 000 passagers. 

« We are aware that the price today may be a barrier“, he notes. To reduce costs and be able to make sailing travel more accessible, the cooperativetherefore plans to build larger boats.« We are a cooperative, therefore with limited profit, with the majority of our profits being reinvested in the structure. Our future profits will be attributed to the development of sailing travel.assure-t-il. 

  

Célia Szymczak and Élisabeth Crépin-Leblond