Climate and Science Reporter, BBC News
Getty imagesMega-rich are using private airplanes such as taxis, warn climatic scientists who tracked flights to calculate the heating gases of the planet they release.
Scientists resolved that carbon dioxide emissions, which contribute to climate change, increased by 46% between 2019 and 2023.
The researchers traced all private flights worldwide, including summer weekend trips to Ibiza, Spain and travel to the FIFA World Cup and the UN climate conference in Dubai.
Flying in a private jet for a single hour can release more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of what the average person produces in a year, according to the research team.
“There are many people who use these aircraft such as Taxis, where you cover the distance of the aircraft simply because it is more convenient,” said Professor Stefan Gossling, from the University of Sweden of Linnaeus, who directed the investigation.
“If someone’s flight broadcasts as much as an average human being in one year, just to see a football game, then maybe it shows that these people think they are out of the standards that we have as a global community” .
In 2023, private flights produced approximately 15.6 million tons of carbon dioxide – The equivalent of 3.7 million gasoline cars that are conducted during the one year – According to the investigation.
In general, that is small compared to global carbon emissions. It represents approximately 1.8% of the emissions of all air trips, and aviation is 4% of global emissions.
Professor Gossling said that emissions “could not seem much, but this is a small fraction of humanity and that each of these people in a year is broadcasting more than a small city in central Africa” traveling in private planes.
Each human produces approximately 4.3 tons of carbon dioxide each year, on average, but in central Africa, this falls to 0.1 tons.
The 46% increase in private airplanes is probably due to the increase in demand and limitations in commercial trips caused by Covid Pandemia.
Getty imagesPeople who fly in private airplanes are usually among the richest in the world, sometimes known as “ultra -network” individuals.
It is estimated that the group includes around 256,000 people, 0.003% of the world adult population, each has an average of $ 123 million (£ 95 million), according to scientists.
The team mapped the flight routes of several internationally recognized figures, appointed in the report as only “actors, singers and renowned directors.”
One traveled through a private jet 169 times in 2023, emitting approximately 2,400 tons of carbon dioxide, the equivalent of driving 571 gasoline cars throughout the year.
The scientists chose not to name people, making it clear that they did not want to point out any person.
Most aircraft were recorded in the United States (69%), followed by Brazil, Canada, Germany, Mexico and the United Kingdom.
According to researchers, many of the flights were leisure or events such as Film Festivals and football matches.
And 47.4% were less than 500 km (300 miles).
Private flights to Ibiza, Spain and Nice, France reached its maximum point in summer, with arrivals and exits concentrated on weekends.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup coincided with 1,846 aircraft that reached Qatar, generating approximately 14,700 tons of carbon dioxide.
The team also discovered that 291 private planes landed in the United Arab Emirates at the time of the UN Climate Conference in Dubai, in 2023, generating 1,500 tons of carbon dioxide.
Professor Gossling said those flights were probably for very rich entrepreneurs traveling to the climate conference.
The investigation did not include chiefs of states or politicians, who are more likely to fly in private property aircraft instead of private.
The researchers calculated the emissions of 18,655,789 flights when observing the time in the air and the average fuel consumption of aircraft models.
The monitoring information is available in the ADS-B exchange of the flight monitoring portal, which Professor Gossling considered the most reliable tracker of this type of data.
“In 10 years, people will want to have done much more to stop climate change,” said Professor Gossling.
“We need to reduce certain activities and we must start at the top to make the statement that everyone has a role in reducing emissions.”
Without action, the world could be heated in 3.1c this century, found a recent UN report. There is already 1.2c above preindustrial levels.
And by 2050, it is predicted that commercial travel emissions Increases more than 2.5 times the level in 2021.
The International Air Transport Association has pledged to make Global Aviation Net-Zero for 2050.
But many scientists still do not convince that there is a clear alternative to the traditional fuel that would allow air trips to increase without releasing more soothing gases from the planet.
The research is published in the Communications Earth & Environment scientific research magazine.
