Fernando Valladares
PhD in Biology, CSIC researcher and associate professor at the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos de Madrid
In this climate emergency situation that we are in, it is absolutely irresponsible for people with public visibility and media attention, such as footballers and coaches - in this case Mbappé and Galtier of PSG - to trivialise the seriousness of the situation related to climate change.
One of the key measures we have to mitigate climate change has to do with the transport system. Air travel must be reduced; there is no room for any joke, any irony, any joking about the fact that short journeys must be made by train or any other means of public transport other than air travel. This is already widely accepted, widely accepted by the majority of citizens, and it is highly irresponsible and offensive for jokes to be made in the public media about changing their mode of transport.
This player and this coach are also citizens of this planet and, even if they have money and possibilities to take those planes, they should go by train. If they cannot go by train, they should explain it and, above all, they should show shame and concern for not being able to do so. There is no room for irony and jokes. To say that next time they will go "in a sailing carriage" is really disrespectful, as well as deeply irresponsible. Those of us who hear this should be ashamed of ourselves and, of course, apply zero tolerance to such comments, starting with the media. Zero tolerance for jokes like this because we all have a lot at stake.