As a member of parliament, I’m constantly on the move. I want to be present in Rostock, as well as in Brussels and Strasbourg. I want to meet people all over Europe, get a picture of the situation on the ground. And I want to do all this with a carbon footprint that is as low as possible.
I make it transparent here how much CO2 I produce with my travels. In 2020, it was around 2.7 tons. That’s about as much as a round-trip flight from Germany to New York – still far too much, but measured against my travel volume, it’s a first step.
I travel almost exclusively by train. My regular route Rostock-Brussels I made 11 times last year. Most of the time, I’m on the go there for around 10 hours – and I’m very very looking forward to when the planned night train finally becomes a reality 🙂
I only take the plane when there is absolutely no other way. That was the case twice last year: when I traveled to Kazakhstan as part of my work for the European Parliament’s delegation. And once when I had no other choice but to fly from Berlin to Brussels due to my schedule. These two trips alone generated 1.7 tons, almost 2/3 of my total emissions. Every flight weighs in!
When the Corona pandemic is over, my travel activity will increase again. My goal is clear: to further reduce emissions. In order to achieve this, I am campaigning for the expansion of rail lines throughout Europe – and, of course, for the expansion of renewable energies so that the trains also get clean electricity!
