#MoveTheDate
1.8
Days
Replacing 50% of air travel with high-speed rail would move Earth Overshoot Day by 1.8 days.
What is the solution?
Investing in high speed rail to connect destinations that are otherwise served by air travel.
This solution improves our resource security in the energy category.
How does it #MoveTheDate?
Air travel accounts for approximately 2.8% of global carbon emissions, with few opportunities for decarbonization. Replacing trips where possible with more efficient modes, such as high speed rail, would have a major impact on global emissions.
How is it scalable?
Approximately 50% of all flights take place over distances of 900km or less. At these distances, high speed rail is a competitive form of transportation.
What is the solution?
Investing in high speed rail to connect destinations that are otherwise served by air travel.
This solution improves our resource security in the energy category.
How does it #MoveTheDate?
Air travel accounts for approximately 2.8% of global carbon emissions, with few opportunities for decarbonization. Replacing trips where possible with more efficient modes, such as high speed rail, would have a major impact on global emissions.
How is it scalable?
Approximately 50% of all flights take place over distances of 900km or less. At these distances, high speed rail is a competitive form of transportation.
High Speed Rail, or HSR, was first developed in Japan in the 1960s, with the Shinkansen, or “bullet train.” HSR development then spread to Europe with the creation of the TGV in France and the establishment of the first international network. However, today it is China who is unambiguously the leader in HSR construction: approximately two-thirds of the world’s high speed rail is now in China, which boasts over 37,000 km of track — which the Chinese government has proposed plans to double by 2035.
This expansion has already had an impact on Chinese aviation. Chinese HSR carries more than twice as many passengers as domestic flights. Domestic airlines have had to cancel regional flights, especially those under 500km, and many short-haul routes have been terminated.
In Europe, short-haul flights have a much stronger market-share compared to rail, however this is also changing. The French government has announced a ban on short-haul flights to destinations which can also be reached by train in under 2.5 hours. Where there is not currently high-speed rail, night train service is also gaining in popularity, with trains which feature sleeping quarters.
There’s no benefit in waiting!
Acting now puts you at a strategic advantage in a world increasingly defined by ecological overshoot. Countless solutions exist that #MoveTheDate. They’re creative, economically viable, and ready to deploy at scale. With them, we can make ourselves more resilient and #MoveTheDate of Earth Overshoot Day. If we move the date 6 days each year, humanity can be out of overshoot before 2050.