Leaders' private jets to COP26, burned over 1,000 tons of CO2

As the COP26 climate conference kicked off on Monday, November 1st, 50 private jets landed at Glasgow and Edinburgh airports, taking the world leaders to one of the most critical environmental summits in history.

In the run-up to the event, 118 different business jets flew into the airports, according to data compiled by WingX, an aviation consultancy.

Inbound private jets to Glasgow and Edinburgh airports were up 525% on the opening day of the summit compared with the previous seven days.

Flying a private jet between Glasgow and Rome, where many leaders were previously attending the G20 summit, emits roughly six tons of CO2 per flight. Estimates vary according to aircraft and weight.

“Our research has found that most journeys could easily be completed on scheduled flights. Private jets are very prestigious but it is difficult to avoid the hypocrisy of using one while claiming to be fighting climate change,” says Matt Finch, U.K. policy manager at the Transport and Environment campaign group, according to Forbes.

Many climate activists have pointed out the hypocrisy of turning up to a summit on climate change on a transport that is contributing to its very cause.

Those taking private jets to and from COP26 include Jeff Bezos, Prince Charles, and Boris Johnson, who was criticized for flying back to London to attend a dinner on Wednesday evening.

Others made an exit to Cannes in the South of France, and Bern in Switzerland, according to flights tracked by FlightRadar24.

Prince Charles said that he only agreed to fly on a private jet between Rome and Glasgow when it was agreed that sustainable fuel would be used in the plane, according to Forbes.

Boris Johnson’s flight to London used “partly sustainable fuel” according to his spokesperson.

This criticism around private jets comes as new research, by Oxfam, shows the luxury lifestyles of the richest (1% of the world’s population) could jeopardize targets to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees.

The study says the wealthy would need to cut their emissions by 97% so the world can stay on track to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees, as pledged at the 2015 Paris Agreement.

The report makes clear that sustainable fuel and technology alone will not reduce the carbon footprint of the world’s wealthiest, as lifestyles themselves have to change, starting with no flying to a climate conference on a private jet.