Together, we have a responsibility — and opportunity — to rebuild for a more sustainable and equitable future; one our world needs, our children deserve, and where generations not-yet-born can continue to explore and enjoy the beauty and benefit of this home we share.”
The Duke has previously come under fire for advocating more environmentally-aware travel while using private jets, but he says he only rarely does not use commercial aircraft, and took action to offset the carbon dioxide emissions caused by his trips.
Quite what is meant by sustainable tourism isn’t clear but I have a feeling that it means Northern peasants get a choice of Skegness or Blackpool. That’s certainly what the P³ has indicated…..
generations not-yet-born can continue to explore
Opposed to abortion is he?
he says he …. took action to offset the carbon dioxide emissions caused by his trips.
So the basic problem is that international flights are too cheap? So cheap the proles can afford to go to Umbria?
The Ginger Whinger is a waste of space. The people of the world need to fight back harder against this green shite or they will lose all the gains the industrial Revolution has brought us.
No comments for this story, obviously the DT don’t want readers calling him a hypocritical twat or the like.
Time to expound the ‘You First’ doctrine again.
Blackpool,spent an hour there once, only had 600 quid on me. Went to a fortune teller, told I wanted my palm read. She hit it with a hammer. I believe I’ll stick to this side of the Pennines now when Scotland is closed to the Unionists from south of the border.
Here’s an extension of the theme..
https://chiefio.wordpress.com/2021/01/29/all-i-ask-is-that-washington-d-c-show-us-the-way-by-example
I can’t help thinking the age of mass air transport is over. Perhaps Bond movies could go back to being travelogues for the plebs who had no chance of ever seeing those places for themselves.
‘I can’t help thinking the age of mass air transport is over’
Sadly I agree, am surprised there haven’t been any airlines declaring bankruptcy yet. I expect once the covid crisis has passed there will be an effort to use the ‘climate emergency’ to turn the clock back to when only the great and the good could afford to fly, while the rest of us will have to make do with a ferry trip to France or Spain if we’re lucky.
“The people of the world need to fight back harder against this green shite or they will lose all the gains the industrial Revolution has brought us.”
Precisely. All the fretting about the kind of world future generations will inherit have it entirely backwards. Green government policies will eventually impoverish us. Then the outlook for future generations will be truly bleak.
Over the last 30 years, 1.1 billion people have been lifted out of extreme poverty through global economic growth fueled by cheap, reliable fossil fuels. Green policies will not only prevent us finishing the job, they will reverse the trend. What about those children, Hal, what do they deserve?
Does this make property in UK coastal resorts a good long-term buy? Prices probably squashed at the moment due to lockdowns, but demand set to soar over the medium-long-term if global tourism destroyed?
The people of the world need to fight back harder against this green shite or they will lose all the gains the industrial Revolution has brought us.
It might well be the “people of the world” who fight back. Not being riddled with self loathing, they might choose not to follow the West over the cliff.
Don’t forget that the seas are rising, PJF, at 3mm/year the properties will soon be swamped and worthless.
Hmmm, that belief could keep prices low. Best to buy chip shops and amusement arcades then; something that earns.
“I can’t help thinking the age of mass air transport is over.”
Do people not want and see those Lord of the Rings hobbit sets in New Zealand? Take the kids to Disneyland? Drink flaming sambuca and shag some bird in Magaluf?
There have been positive lessons from the pandemic, like you can probably do most of your office job at home. But there’s a lot that is just missed, like holidays, gigs, going to the pub. Zoom calling granny isn’t the same as going to see granny.
The demand is still there. Maybe an airliner goes to the wall, but the aircraft, airports and flight booking systems all exist. I think there’s going to be a travel boom at the end of this, as all these hibernated people really make up for it.
PJF,
Not for that reason, but well, if you can do your job from pretty much anywhere, why do you want to live in Hammersmith rather than Bournemouth?
“if you can do your job from pretty much anywhere, why do you want to live in Hammersmith rather than Bournemouth?”
Bloke on M4.
If a job can be done remotely from Bournemouth, why can’t it be done from Bangalore?
Maybe an airliner goes to the wall
Hopefully not with me in it.
The Brits need to figure out a way to keep redundant princes busy. The military seemed a useful option, but they leave after a few years and then face decades of nothingness.
Many holiday firms are already fully booked for late summer (as they’re offering refunds if it has to be cancelled because we’re still locked down). If you still have a job (or a pension) when the music stops, you’re going to want to make up for being locked in your house for 18 months.
Maybe the pent-up demand for holidays & travel is what finally breaks the Great Panic. Staycations last summer were a novelty, they won’t be as attractive a second time.
WindyPants,
“If a job can be done remotely from Bournemouth, why can’t it be done from Bangalore?”
Good question, with a number of answers (from a software developer perspective).
Firstly, trying to find particular skills in Bangalore. They have good programmers, but you want to find a CMS specialist, they aren’t there yet.
Secondly, sometimes distance matters. You want to interview someone? You still probably want to do it face to face. You’re going to want occasional meetings with people. That’s a flight to Bangalore to do it. Timezones matter. Culture matters.
Most large software teams have left the UK. If you’re running a large system, the scale works for off-shoring. You get more specialisation. You still keep people here writing specifications, who have to be in close contact with the business. And they are generally working on fairly long term changes. They still have a team here because if things go tits up at 3pm, the Indians have gone home.
Small projects don’t have the same scale thing. You have people who talk to the business than go and write the code. Face-to-face matters more for the first part, but how often do you do it?
Think of it like this: if you were buying one smartphone, would you order from China or Amazon? If you were ordering 100 smartphones per month, you might think it worth the extra effort and delay, But for just one, you won’t.
In what world does someone as thick as Spud get to decide what the world needs? Not even the Pope or the Supreme Ayatollah has that responsibility
Locked in my 2022 trip to replace my 2020 trip already, didn’t feel like taking a risk on 2021
BoM4
Its not often I disagree but I’m not convinced working from home is as baked in as you like to think. The next generation of managers won’t have the self confidence to allow their teams to be as independent as they are now and there’s the problem of bringing new people in and developing them, especially graduates/school leavers.
It will be a fight between these managers and accountants so will probably end up as a couple of days a week in the office.
There is definitely the desire there still (I’m desperate to get away), it just depends on the price. Say Easyjet, Ryanair, etc go under and we go back to the post-war system of 2 flag carriers between each country. How much more would the flights cost compared to now? What proportion of air travel was for business? If a large chunk of that sticks with zoom how much would the tourist’s fares have to increase to offset that decrease? Or how about if the PTB decide to whack on more carbon taxes to fight the ‘climate crisis’. Would the weekend city break in the continent still be viable? How many people would fly to Oz if the cost tripled?
“ Its not often I disagree but I’m not convinced working from home is as baked in as you like to think. The next generation of managers won’t have the self confidence to allow their teams to be as independent as they are now and there’s the problem of bringing new people in and developing them, especially graduates/school leavers.”
I agree, existing teams are bringing over a legacy of trust and working together that make the online systems work. This is starting to erode as far as I can tell as people have less casual interaction, you can go for weeks not talking to some people.
We have had some new starters and some of us went into the office so that their first month was at least 2 days out of 5 in person, they have all said they found that especially useful.
My guess is same as above we are going to a 2/3 work/home split which will allow for halving required office space over time so keeps accountants and manager happy, though managers may have to do 3 days a week to make sure they interact with all staff
Bloke in North Dorset January 31, 2021 at 9:31 pm – “The next generation of managers won’t have the self confidence to allow their teams to be as independent as they are now”
Also managers do not much like managing. It is not a nice job. That is why it pays well or at least better. But part of the pay is not money but status. You get the better car park and the better office. You measure your success by how close to the door the car park is.
Once you are working from home, you no longer have peons deferring to you in person. You no longer get those psychological perks of the job. But you are stuck managing.
I think managers will be demanding a return to the office soon enough
Given a lot of the burden of reporting and ensuring staff follow Covid guidelines falls on managers here they seem very keen not to have staff come back into work as it’s much easier to send the same spreadsheet each week showing 0 attendance.
‘Over the last 30 years, 1.1 billion people have been lifted out of extreme poverty through global economic growth fueled by cheap, reliable fossil fuels. Green policies will not only prevent us finishing the job, they will reverse the trend. What about those children, Hal, what do they deserve?’
DocBud: Nice to see a comment I can agree with so strongly.
Say Easyjet, Ryanair, etc go under and we go back to the post-war system of 2 flag carriers between each country.
Why? RyanJet light go under but their aircraft will still exist. Their staff will still have the necessary skills, and the airports that they serve won’t suddenly get swallowed up into the ground. If RyanAir can do £100 return from UK to the Costa del Skol, having paid full price for the aircraft, someone else can do it too, especially given the airline’s liquidators or leasing companies will be _very_ keen to get rid of them given the costs of storage.