Super rich at Cop29 climate change conference criticised for doubling private jet use

Attendees to the Cop29 clime alteration league person been criticised aft backstage pitchy usage to the conference's adjacent airport, successful 1 week, was treble compared to the erstwhile year

Delegates person been accused of hypocrisy aft flying to the Cop29 clime alteration league successful Azerbaijan, via backstage jets.

Officials heading to Baku person been criticised pursuing an accrued successful backstage pitchy arrivals astatine the city's planetary airdrome successful the past week.

The yearly United Nations (UN) clime league is being held successful the oil-rich superior of Azerbaijan this year. The acme has besides attracted the affluent and almighty who look keen to conscionable politicians, diplomats and alteration makers. The Times has scrutinised information from FlightRadar24 - a formation tracking website - and revealed that 65 backstage jets landed successful Baku during the archetypal week of the conference.

Of those 65 jets, 45 arrived connected Sunday and Monday, arsenic the league commenced. The fig of backstage jets seen landing crossed the week astatine Baku's planetary airdrome is doubly arsenic galore arsenic seen successful the aforesaid week past year, wherever 32 backstage jets landed astatine the airport.

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From the UK, Sir Keir Starmer, the Foreign Secretary David Lammy and the Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, flew to the league connected a authorities pitchy run by the RAF. In total, Cop29 saw astir 80 heads of authorities astatine the league connected the Monday, with astir 67,000 radical having registered to be this year's lawsuit successful full — making it the 2nd biggest aft Dubai past year.

Denise Auclair of the Travel Smart Campaign, which encourages a simplification successful firm aerial travel, told The Times: “Private jets person a disproportionate interaction connected the environment. They are 5 to 14 times much polluting than commercialized planes per rider and 50 times much polluting than trains.

“The fig of arrivals by backstage pitchy we are seeing astatine Cop29 puts beforehand and centre the hypocrisy of utilizing a backstage pitchy portion claiming to beryllium warring clime change, peculiarly from an equity constituent of view. An enforcement taking 1 long-haul backstage formation volition pain much CO₂ than respective mean radical bash successful an full year.”

In comparison, during the aforesaid play past twelvemonth 32 backstage jets landed astatine the Baku airport. Cop28 successful Dubai had an estimated 644 backstage flights associated with it, which successful crook produced astir 4,800 tonnes of c emissions.

Environmental campaigners person accused the delegates of travelling via privaate jet, of hypocrisy. However, galore aviation sources who are acquainted with the question arrangements of precocious illustration individulas, person defended the determination to alert backstage jets to the league arsenic 'understandable', compared to travelling via a commercialized flight.

Alethea Warrington, the caput of energy, aviation and vigor astatine Possible, the clime charity, said to The Times: “Travelling by backstage pitchy is simply a horrendous discarded of the world’s scarce remaining c budget, with each travel producing much emissions successful a fewer hours than the mean idiosyncratic astir the satellite emits successful an full year.”

A caller survey tracked much than 25,000 backstage jets and 19m flights betwixt 2019 and 2023. It recovered that astir fractional the jets travelled little than 500km, portion 900,000 were utilized for trips little than 50km, erstwhile determination are apt to beryllium clear, overmuch little polluting alertnatives.