According to the Transport and the Environment report, private flights are considered the worst way to travel due to their impact on the environment. That’s how much they pollute.
Preach well and scratch (very) badly. There is no more apt proverb for those who present themselves as champions of environmental protection with proclamations and advice, and then engage in behaviors that are inappropriate and inappropriate to say the least. We can take the example of those who organize mega-concerts on the beaches, or that of the institutional delegations which, last November, traveled with hundreds of private flights to the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP26 ), held in Glasgow. Jets used by politicians and VIPs have a disproportionate impact on the environment per unique passenger, significantly greater than that of a normal airliner. Suffice to say that, as indicated by the specialized portal Transport & Environment, 1% of people who use the plane to travel are responsible for 50% of all aviation emissions. These are the super-rich with their private jets, often used for very short distances that could easily be covered by train or car, decidedly less polluting means. But how much does a private jet actually pollute?
Commenting on the private jet invasion at COP26 in Glasgow last year, Dr Matt Finch of Transport and Environment told the Daily Record that the average private jet “emits 2 tonnes of CO2 per hour of flight”. On average, a person living in the European Union emits 8.2 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2eq) over an entire year. This gives a good idea of the disastrous impact of private flights. CO2 is indeed the main greenhouse gas released into the atmosphere by human activities, representing the engine of global warming. The pollution produced by the flights of VIPs, politicians and entrepreneurs is also getting worse year on year, with an increase in CO2 emitted increasing by 31% between 2005 and 2019, as detailed by Transport and Environment. As with all other anthropogenic activities, emissions from private jet flights have also suffered a significant drop due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but are recovering much faster compared to those from scheduled flights.
Overall, according to the Transport and Environment report, private flights pollute 5 to 14 times more than commercial planes (per passenger) and 50 times more than trains. No wonder that in recent days a bitter controversy has unleashed against the American entrepreneur and model Kylie Jenner, who would have rented a private jet for a journey of only 64 kilometers. In recent days, Chiara Ferragni and her husband Fedez, who went on vacation to Ibiza on a private flight, have also been targeted. Several footballers have also been accused of being insensitive to climate change, given the incessant movements on the luxury jets.
Among the countries most affected by the phenomenon of private flights is France, in which 1/10 of flights in 2019 involved private jets, “half of which traveled less than 500 kilometers”, specified Transport and Environment. These planes are twice as likely to be used for very short flights. “We do not insist enough on the harmfulness of private jets for the environment, it is the worst way to travel for miles. Our research revealed that most trips could easily be made on scheduled flights. Private jets are very prestigious, but it’s hard to avoid the hypocrisy of using one while claiming to be fighting climate change,” Dr Finch said on the sidelines of COP26. At the conference, delegations’ private jets emitted 13,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide, equivalent to that produced by 1,600 British citizens in an entire year. Preach well and scratch badly.
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