Private jet flyers emit 500 times as much CO2 as we do

Recent studies have shown that the ultra-rich are responsible for considerable amounts of CO2 being pumped into the atmosphere, including that from private jets. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images)

From CBC

For most of us, air travel is a rare event that can be accompanied by long lines, long waits and lost luggage. But not so for those rich enough to fly on private jets.

Instead, those millionaires and billionaires can jet-set around the world with ease, and with little thought to their carbon footprint while doing so.

When it comes to aviation in general — something only a small share of the world's population takes part in — it contributes roughly 2.5 per cent of all CO2 emissions and has thus far contributed to roughly four per cent of global warming.

But just how much CO2 emissions are these private jets emitting?

Authors of a new study published in the journal Nature Communications Earth & Environment tried to quantify that number.

They found that some people who use private jets could be producing roughly 500 times more CO2 in a year than the average person, globally.

The study's authors used a flight tracking system called ADS-B Exchange, along with the Federal Aviation Administration, and flight tracking apps FlightAware and FlightRadar24 to gather data from 2019 to 2023 on nearly 26,000 private aircraft, and linked that to 72 different aircraft models and their average fuel consumption.

They found that private flights contributed at least 15.6 megatonnes of CO2 (MtCO2) in 2023. That equated to roughly 3.6 tonnes of CO2 for each flight — around the emissions of driving a passenger vehicle some 14,000 km, from Vancouver to St. John's and back.

And 47.4 per cent of the flights were shorter than 500 km, with 4.7 per cent being fewer than 50 kilometres.

As well, in the period of 2019-2023, emissions increased by 46 per cent.

Oxfam International released in October [a paper] that looked at 50 of the richest people in the world and their carbon footprint. In it, they found that these people release more carbon through private jets, yachts and investments in 90 minutes than the average person does in their entire life.

"If everybody in the world travelled like the billionaires that were covered in our Oxfam study, we would overshoot the carbon budget within two days," said Ian Thomson, manager of policy and advocacy for Oxfam Canada. "So it's just not a sustainable form of transportation, and we have to do more to curb private jet travel."

In the Oxfam study, Elon Musk produces roughly 5,497 tonnes of CO2 per year, equivalent to 834 years' worth of emissions for the average person, or 5,437 years' worth for someone in the poorest 50 per cent.

It also found that, for someone flying on a commercial jet in economy class, they pay a 43 per cent air tax (relative to ticket prices), while flying in business class it's 23 per cent. But for private flights? It's only a two per cent tax.

"We know that the the richest one per cent of people are responsible for half of all air travel emissions in the world. So it's really going after this rich polluter elite that is going to help us in curbing air travel emissions," Thomson said.

Tax the rich and their jets.