Emissions alarm from rich people's private jets

This is a difficult paradox to accept, since many of them have called for action to reduce carbon emissions.

Shocking numbers

The paradox has heated up the recent COP28 conference in Dubai. Amid urgent calls for action to combat climate change, the British government has been criticised by the opposition for sending three planeloads of senior officials to the conference.

Mr. Elon Musk was criticized for using his private plane to make a flight that lasted only 9 minutes.

The British Prime Minister has confirmed that his private jet uses sustainable aviation fuel. The British government has also implemented carbon offset measures, but the opposition has criticized the fact that the leader attended an event to combat climate change using a high-emission vehicle.

Based on the OpenSky database and the formula for calculating emissions and fuel consumption of the European Aviation Safety Organization (Eurocontrol), The Guardian newspaper reported that about 300 private planes of 200 celebrities, businessmen, and tycoons around the world made 44,739 flights in the 21-month period from the beginning of 2022, emitting about 415,518 tons of CO2. The above emissions are equivalent to the total emissions of 40,000 people in the UK.

In addition, 39 aircraft linked to 30 Russian oligarchs including billionaire Roman Abramovich, Leonid Mikhelson and the late head of the Wagner private military group - Yevgeny Prigozhin - have emitted 30,701 tons of CO2 since the beginning of 2022, equivalent to the total carbon emissions of about 1,000 Russians.

According to statistics from The Guardian, among the aircraft that emit the most emissions is the Boeing 767 wide-body owned by the Rolling Stones. Since the beginning of 2022, this vehicle has emitted 5,046 tons of CO2, equivalent to an economy class passenger taking 1,763 flights from London to New York City.

Meanwhile, billionaire Lawrence Stroll, owner of the Aston Martin Formula One racing team, has made a total of 1,512 flights since the beginning of 2022. Mr. Lawrence Stroll also owns two personal helicopters.

It is worth mentioning that this billionaire makes many flights with extremely short durations, only about 15 minutes or less, and with the highest frequency among about 200 private planes of famous people.

According to calculations by the British newspaper, for every 6 flights made by private jets of celebrities and businessmen around the world (excluding helicopter flights), there is one short-haul flight lasting half an hour or less.

Celebrities and businessmen whose private jet activities are on the Guardian's watch list have not responded to the news agency's report.

What to do to limit private jets?

The Guardian’s analysis shows that private jet use has increased sharply since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Accordingly, private jet activity in Europe last year was at its highest level since its peak in 2007. Meanwhile, experts predict that private jet sales are likely to reach an all-time high this year.

Luxurious interior of a private jet (illustrative photo).

Notably, about 40% of private aircraft flights are empty and are only used to pick up the owner or a guest. Many of the aircraft are used by friends, relatives, business partners of the owner or are rented out.

The Guardian said that, from the above research and reports from a number of other organizations, it shows that there is not only a large gap in carbon emissions between rich and poor countries but also between the rich and poor classes within the same country.

Faced with such a situation, Europe's leading clean transport advocacy group has proposed that by 2030, regulators should only allow private aircraft using electric or hydrogen energy to fly less than 1,000km within Europe.

Companies with large private aircraft should be responsible for contracting the purchase of clean e-kerosene fuel on all flights.

In the run-up to the ban, fuel taxes should be imposed on private jets using internal combustion engines, depending on the distance of the flight and the weight of the aircraft, to hold the tycoons accountable for their negative environmental impact.

The organization proposes a tax equivalent to the one currently applied in Sweden, at least 300 euros, which the regulator could collect millions of euros and use to develop new aviation technology.

In addition, there is a need to step up propaganda and encourage celebrities to change their habits. Some celebrities, such as singer Taylor Swift, have significantly changed their behavior after being named in connection with their frequent use of private jets, which emit large amounts of carbon.

Between January and August 2022, the singer's private plane made an average of 19 flights per month. After facing criticism, the number of private flights the singer made per month dropped to about 2.

According to a recent report by Oxfam, the emissions from the consumption activities of the world's billionaires amount to thousands of tons of CO2 each year.

Of these, travel, including yachting and private jets, is the biggest contributor to emissions. In just one hour, a private jet can emit 2 tons of CO2.

According to data from the International Energy Agency, per capita CO2 emissions in about 10 countries in 2021 show that the activities of the richest 10% of people in many countries emitted 40 times more CO2 than the activities of the poorest 10% of people in the same country.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/bao-dong-khi-thai-tu-may-bay-rieng-cua-nguoi-giau-19223122209562408.htm