Sharp rise in CO2 emissions from private flights
Published: Thursday, Nov 7th 2024, 18:20
Updated At: Friday, Nov 8th 2024, 00:59
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According to a study, CO2 emissions from private flights have risen by almost half within just a few years. Between 2019 and 2023, direct emissions increased by 46 percent, from 10.7 to 15.6 million tons, according to the specialist journal "Communications Earth & Environment". The machines are often used for short distances that could easily be covered by car or train.
"The study confirms that the super-rich have a huge carbon footprint," explained Nora Wissner from the Öko-Institut Berlin, who was not involved in the analysis herself. Private jet owners are predominantly older men over the age of 55 who work in banking, finance or real estate.
The study also shows that a significant proportion of private jet flights are used for leisure and vacation trips. "In view of growing inequality and the increasing climate crisis, we should therefore regulate private air travel more strictly."
The team led by Stefan Gössling from Linnaeus University in Kalmar (Sweden) analyzed transponder data from thousands of private aircraft from the "ADS-B Exchange" platform. Well over 18 million flights involving 26,000 private aircraft were recorded.
This data was combined with the average fuel consumption of 72 types of aircraft used primarily for the transportation of individuals. When evaluating the data, it should be noted that CO2 emissions only account for a third of the climate effect of flying - alongside factors such as contrails and nitrogen oxide and water vapor emissions.
The number of private aircraft was particularly high around major sporting, cultural or political events - including the World Climate Conference in Dubai in December 2023.
Fussball-WM, Super Bowl und Cannes
They looked at some events in detail and found that there were certain overlaps: for example, of the 766 private aircraft registered in connection with the Cannes Film Festival (France), 172 were also at the World Economic Forum in Davos (Switzerland). Of the 409 private planes at the 2022 Men's World Cup in Qatar, 66 were also at the 2023 Super Bowl in the USA and 96 at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai.
By far the largest number of private aircraft included in the survey - more than 18,000 - were registered in the USA. This corresponds to more than two thirds (69 percent) of the aircraft recorded. In absolute figures, Germany ranks fourth with 630 private aircraft, behind Brazil (927) and Canada (770). On a per capita basis, Malta is home to the largest fleet of private aircraft (247, 46.5 per 100,000 inhabitants).
Often only short distances
Almost half (47.4 percent) of flights were over a distance of 500 kilometers or less. The total number of private aircraft has risen by 6.45% annually since 2019, while the number of kilometers traveled has increased by 11.31% per year. According to the data, only 0.003 percent of the world's population use private aircraft. Their CO2 emissions account for around 1.8 percent of emissions from commercial aviation.
The costs of private aircraft are tax-deductible in many cases - however, the data on flights during traditional vacation periods, at weekends and to well-known vacation destinations indicated that many flights were simply for leisure purposes.
Private jets are often not covered by European emissions trading, as this defines a minimum size and a minimum level of emissions per year that private jets often do not achieve. They are also effectively subsidized, as they do not have to pay energy tax or VAT in most countries, the report continued.
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