The British trend for celebrating stag and hen parties in foreign climes is fuelling carbon-intensive flying habits, yet many reluctant participants regard taking weekend trips abroad as an expensive and unnecessary folly, polling commissioned by environmental charity Hubbub has revealed.

A survey of 2,000 young adults carried out late last year by Censuswide found nearly half of all flights taken by men aged between 20 and 45 were solely for stag dos, while just over a third of flights taken by women in the same age bracket were for hen parties, results released yesterday show.

Yet at the same time, the trend for more exotic destinations is far from universally popular, as over half of all men and women surveyed said flying abroad was too expensive, time-consuming, and involved excessive travel.

Indeed, a third of those polled felt resentful about the high cost of flying abroad, with the research revealing an average spend of £421 per person for a foreign trip, compared to £261 for UK-based stag or hen party, Hubbub said.

In fact, 60 per cent of people in the survey said they would prefer to go on stag or hen dos within the UK, due to domestic trips being cheaper and easier, as well as offering more flexibility, the survey found.

Hubbub said on average Britons took more flights than any other nation in the world, and that the carbon impact of British stag and hen parties in foreign destinations was therefore likely to be significant.

Working with US climate offset specialists Carbon Credit Capital, the charity calculated that if 10 people opted to travel from London to Brighton rather than Barcelona for a stag or hen do, it could reduce their carbon emissions by as much as 98 per cent. That is the equivalent of one person in the group switching to a vegan diet for 2.2 years, or avoiding driving a petrol or diesel car for 1.4 years, it said.

The new campaign from the charity - dubbed Why Wing It? - comes amid growing concern about the impact of flying on the climate, with the global aviation sector estimated to be responsible for around two per cent of global emissions and rising, although when the impact of plane contrails are taken into account the figure could be as high as 3.5 per cent.

Decarbonising flight is a major challenge however as low carbon fuels and technologies remain in their infancy. For its part the UK's aviation industry recently pledged to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, but its net zero strategy has incurred criticism from environmental groups which argue it relies too heavily on carbon offsets and fuel efficiency while still pushing for further growth in passenger numbers.

As such Hubbub's new campaign aims to encourage more people to consider alternative modes of travel to flying, and to visit destinations closer to home rather than abroad for their pre-wedding parties.

The survey results mark the start of a series of campaigns on the issue, said the charity, which is also supporting calls for a 'frequent flier levy' that would see people who fly the most pay a higher charge.

Trewin Restorick, Hubbub's CEO, said the debate over the impact of flight on the climate was "a conversation that needs to happen".

"Frivolous flights are a significant contributor to UK climate emissions," he said. "We want people to rethink the decisions they are making, highlighting the many wonderful alternatives that exist within the UK."

The move comes amidst growing predictions from airlines and investors that the fledgling 'flight shame' movement, which sees people consciously reduce the number of flights they take in response to environment concerns, could quickly expand and impact future demand for aviation.