If there is one upside of the COVID-19 pandemic, then it is its positive impact on air pollution. All of a sudden people in the northern Indian state of Punjab can see the Himalayas for the first time in decades thanks to a drastic drop in ambient dirt as a consequence of the country’s lockdown. Providing they were allowed to leave their homes, inhabitants of smog-prone cities can breathe cleaner air at last. But all this is only a temporary blessing and scientists warn us that it will still take at least 50 years for nature to recover even if we permanently reduce our greenhouse gas emissions on a ‘COVID-19 scale’. So, when the COVID-19 threat is over, the climate change agenda will once more be making news headlines with Greta Thunberg and her movement, who have been off the radar for some time now, undoubtedly haranguing us for a second time. During an interview in pre-COVID-19 days, a ferry CEO from a leading Scandinavian ferry operator told me off the record that the industry would have to be on its toes for the Greta Thunberg effect. “Thunberg has primarily targeted the airline industry, relative to which the ferry sector in Scandinavia has benefitted so far,” he said, warning that “one day she will be knocking at our door. We need to be prepared for this.”

Wake-up call from Greta

Magnus Ehrenberg, a political communication expert, shared this view when Shippax met him for a short interview in a posh five-star European District hotel in Brussels, a place he visits quite regularly to meet EU politicians and people from the European Commission. “Greta is an idol,” he observed at the start of the conversation. “People need idols and she has become bigger outside Sweden than she is in Sweden. Many people of my age, i.e. men between 55 and 60, tend to hate her. Needless to say, this is the wrong way to respond to her movement. I have been doing politics since the age of 16-17. It’s very good to have enthusiastic young people who are interested in politics. My advice is to respect this as it comes straight from the heart, something that should be fostered. In the 60s, 70s and 80s of the previous century it was mainly leftist protesters who took to the streets. Ten years, ago it became the educated middle class. When it comes to the climate protests, it’s not about left wing or right wing. All traditional parties – be it Christian democratic, liberal, or socialist – realize that we need to address global warming; this has come to be reflected in their manifestoes. Having said this, I somehow believe that Greta should stay out of the political system. Whilst it’s good that the Thunberg movement raises its voice, it should also be constructive and come with solutions as panic alone is never enough to bring meaningful change into being. Unfortunately, good solutions are still scarce.”  He then went on to observe that the environmental debate was not something new. “Most people are aware of the vulnerability of our mother earth. Just one example is that we have been segregating our garbage for many years. In the 1970s and 80s, acid rain was a huge environmental problem. At about the same time, scientists warned us about the ozone layer depletion, so the climate debate is not really new per se, but Greta has definitely given it a boost and succeeded in giving it a distinctive face. She has become a symbol and a catalyst for what many people have been thinking and talking about for many years.”

“But,” Ehrenberg told us, “it is wrong to paint a one-sided picture and exaggerate things. No doubt, the people surrounding Thunberg are very clever and well-educated. However, it’s my impression that they tend to live in cities with a good public transport network. In a place like Stockholm, Greta’s native city, one doesn’t need a car to go from A to B and then from B to C. In Berlin, for instance, an increasing number of wealthy and well-educated people no longer have a personal car and rather share a car as they realize they need to contribute to saving the planet. Personally I can only endorse such initiatives, but I think it’s wrong to take Berlin or Stockholm as a benchmark and declare that everyone should be forced to follow their green approaches in exactly the same way. Sweden is so much more than Stockholm alone. It is a vast country with many villages that cannot easily be reached by train or another form of public transport. For people living on the countryside, a car is not an unnecessary luxury. When not living in Stockholm or in any of the bigger cities, one really needs a car and that’s the very reason why Thunberg is not so popular in her own country as it is wrong to compare Stockholm with everywhere else in Sweden. To some extent, Thunberg is also speaking for the middle and upper class who can afford a Tesla car or another expensive full-electric car. Let’s face it, many people cannot! But I don’t want to sound too priggish as Thunberg and her movement definitely have their merits. In fact, it’s fascinating to see how people are getting environmentally-conscious thanks to Thunberg. And sometimes it’s small details that make a big difference. In this hotel, for instance, they grow their own vegetables,” Ehrenberg continued, while pointing to the hotel’s garden. 

Social media positively influencing our travel behaviour

Magnus Ehrenberg underlined that social media had been playing a positive role in promoting responsible travel as favoured by the Thunberg movement. “Many wealthy and healthy older people, so-called WHOPs, are on social media,” he explained. “WHOPs have the time and money to travel. They can therefore afford to go by train and love to share this on social media, especially the WHOPs from Stockholm.”

But it’s not only WHOPs who have discovered eco-friendly ways of travelling. “Youngsters too are ever more environmentally conscious. Rather than taking a plane to visit places of interest, they spend their leisure time closer home, a phenomenon that we have seen for four or five years now, so well before the ascent of the Thunberg movement. Staycations and vacations in a neighbouring country have gained greatly in popularity, and this will be an even bigger trend post Corona due to the fact that many families will not want to go on long-haul vacations in the coming years.”

According to Ehrenberg, this is also one of the reasons why we have seen a resurgence of ferry travel in recent years. “People realize that ferries are a good transport mode to travel from A to B,” he said. “The days when ferries in Scandinavia were only synonymous with booze cruises and gourmet dining are long behind us. Good-quality ships with decent facilities have become the norm, as exemplified by the Tallink Shuttle ro-paxes or Stena Line’s vessels. We also see that connections to the ports are gaining in importance. Stena Line, for instance, is heavily promoting the train and ferry combination, especially for its new Halmstad-Grenå route. In Turku, the train stops adjacent to the Viking Line and Silja Line ferry terminals. A boat train reminds us of the 60s and 70s, i.e. the days before fixed links and the democratization of air travel, but it’s something that is gaining in popularity as people are becoming more environmentally conscious and opt for nearby holidays.”

Ehrenberg then pointed out that sales of bicycles had been surging in recent years. “Ferry operators should take advantage of this trend,” he said. “Due to climate change, the summer weather has become more reliably warm. Travelling by bicycle has become more popular than ever, either on the bicycle itself or people carrying their bicycles on the roofs of their cars.”

Communication is everything

Ferry operators have shown the way forward when it comes to cleaner fuels and reducing their emissions footprint. “They have been at the forefront in shipping in implementing green technologies,” Ehrenberg observed. “This is absolutely something to be proud of and we should therefore spread this positive message. Sustainability is all about communication – the good things you do have to be communicated. You should also tell this to politicians – it’s important that they know what you are doing, even if it’s fairly small things such as the abolition of single-use plastics, and the way you treat food waste, etc. Any initiative that improves the environmental footprint is a good initiative. Ferry operators shouldn’t hesitate in informing their passengers about the initiatives they are taking. It can be in the form of a movie which you show during the voyage, something Scandlines is doing about the ‘greenifying’ of their Puttgarden and Rostock ferries. We see passengers spreading this positive message. They post photos on Instagram and other social media platforms when they travel with e.g. a battery ferry,” he added, once more underlining how social media can positively influence travel patterns.

© Shippax / Philippe Holthof