LONDON. Exhaust emissions from aircraft showed a big increase private jets in Europe, according to a new report from the environmental organization Greenpeace. The report says that privately airplane were responsible for the emission of 5.3 million tons of carbon dioxide over the past three years, and the number of flights increased from 119,000 in 2020 to 573,000 in 2022.

This amount of carbon dioxide exceeds the annual emissions of Uganda, a country of 46 million people. The organization highlights in its report the destructive energy footprint of Western elites and calls for a ban on private jets. “Vulnerable people are at the forefront of this climate catastrophe and plunged into poverty due to rising fuel prices, although they contributed less to these crises. It is very unfair that the rich are destroying the climate in this way,” said Greenpeace CEO Thomas Gelin.

The UK, France and Germany have the highest number of private jet flights, with private jet emissions much higher than other modes of transport. A two-hour flight in a private jet produces as much carbon dioxide as 16 trips from Paris to Rome in a gasoline car. OUR environmental organization calls on European governments and their leaders EUROPEAN UNION. ban private jets as well as short-haul commercial flights, especially if there is an alternative transport solution. “Pollution from luxury items such as private jets should be addressed first. We need a ban on such flights,” says Gelin. In November, malnutrition humanitarian organization Oxfam found in a study that billionaires’ emissions are a million times higher than the average citizen.

These energy-intensive travels are harming the planet and exacerbating climate inequality.

Paris – London

According to a Greenpeace report, the busiest private jet route in Europe is Paris to London, with an average of nine flights a day. This trip can be completed in almost the same time thanks to a direct rail link through the Channel Tunnel.

The French government is putting pressure on the EU. to impose stricter rules on private jets and short-haul flights. At a meeting of EU transport ministers. – in December – Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Portugal expressed their support for the initiative of France.

Doug Parr, chief executive of Greenpeace UK, notes: “Private jets are incredibly polluting and generally pointless. Many of these movements can be made by train and even by bicycle. Millions of people around the world are losing their property and lives to climate chaos, and a tiny minority are consuming jet fuel like there’s no tomorrow. If the UK government means what it says about zero carbon, private jets should be the first to be taken out of service.” British Greens MP Caroline Lucas emphasizes that “private jets are the exclusive property of the wealthy. No wonder a billionaire government is allowing the private aviation sector to thrive at the expense of the planet and its people for them.”

Charles Michel first

Reuters

The leader in using private jets for his travels is the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, who has made just 18 trips on commercial flights over the past three years, compared to 72 trips by private jet. Worse, Mr Michel decided to use a private jet to travel to the COP27 climate summit last November in Egypt, as well as the COP26 summit in Glasgow in 2021. he does not have his own small planes to transport his leaders, and therefore prefers to rent private planes. In an attempt to counter the criticism, Charles Michel’s press office pointed out that the head of the council and former Belgian prime minister asked a private jet he had chartered to use “sustainable aviation fuel” but was told that such a possibility did not exist. exist at his Sharm el-Sheikh airport, but not even in Brussels. At the same time, the commission has imposed strict travel rules for its employees, pushing them towards sustainable options like cycling.