Journalists at major Danish newspaper Politken will no longer be able to travel by plane for domestic assignments in an effort to reduce the broadsheet’s climate impact, according to reports.
In addition, restrictions are being placed on the company’s international air travel, with the paper’s staff permitted to travel by plane outside Denmark’s borders only when absolutely necessary and if such journeys are offset by contributions to credible climate initiatives, reports the Associated Press.
Politiken’s editor-in-chief Christian Jensen made the announcement on Sunday, explaining the paper’s travel section is also being revamped to focus on domestic, Nordic, and northern European destinations which are easily reachable by public transport.
The paper has recently launched its own online climate calculator enabling users to work out the average carbon impact of their air and road travel.
Headquartered in Copenhagen and founded in 1884, Politiken is one of Denmark’s three main newspapers along with Berlingske and Jyllands-Posten.
In comments reported by AP, Jensen said opinion polls in the country showed climate change was now the top issue for voters ahead of the upcoming general election in Denmark, which is set to take place in June.
Last year the Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen set out plans to ban the sale of conventional petrol and diesel cars from 2030
It follows moves in neighbouring Norway to tackle aviation’s impact on the climate, with the government aiming for all domestic flights to be undertaken by electric aircraft by 2040, in addition to minimum biofuel requirements on airlines from 2020.