I will be flight free 2021 as I have been for many years now (with the exception of a funeral of a family member combined with attending and speaking at a UN climate event in NYC in 2019).
I work with climate action as a public speaker, program host and moderator and I am the chair of the independent think tank Global Utmaning/Global Challenge. Global Utmaning is this year launching our biggest project so far, and it is 100 % about climate action. Climate action is my major concern so of course I can not and do not want to fly. I love train travel and travel by train to my assignments in Sweden and abroad. It is not a sacrifice, it is travelling the way we used to travel in Europe before the deregulation of the aviation industry. It is an office with a magnificent and ever changing view! For vacation I take the train or an electric car.
I am involved as a spokesperson in the Swedish climate organization Våra barns klimat (Our Kids´Climate) and I am a firm believer in the bottom up approach. We as individuals need to walk the talk in order for the decision makers to understand that we are ready for policy changes and decisions that take us down to net zero. I am a firm believer in the power of the many. We need to join together – as in Vi håller oss på jorden (We Stay on the Ground) and as on the climate action platform We Don´t Have Time and the organization Våra barns klimat (Our Kids´Climate) to push for change. Please add your voice to an organization that pushes for climate action, or to many! And please stay on the ground. Our children and grandchildren will thank us.
Catarina Rolfsdotter-Jansson
Sweden