Study: Private Jet Emissions Increased by 46% from 2019 to 2023

• Private jets account for 1.8% of aviation's carbon emissions, while the aviation sector altogether accounts for roughly 4% of human-generated greenhouse gases.
• The US has the highest number of private jets, and wealthy individuals from lower-income countries also use them.

Carbon emissions from private jets have seen a spike from 2019 to 2023, according to a new study published in Nature Communications Earth & Environment.

The rise in emissions is attributed to the wealthiest people in the world. The study says that about 2,50,000 of the richest individuals, with a combined wealth of around $31 trillion, released 17 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in 2023 alone.

This is equivalent to what a country like Tanzania, with more than 60 million people, produces in a year.

Private jet emissions surged by 46% from 2019 to 2023. The study's lead author, Stefan Gossling, noted that the wealthy who can afford them are causing pollution, while the less affluent bear the brunt of it.

The use of private jets saw an all-time spike during major global events like the 2022 World Cup, the 2023 World Economic Forum, the Super Bowl, the Cannes Film Festival, and a UN climate summit in Dubai, resulting in 35,600 tonnes of emissions from over 3,000 private jets.

Environmentalists criticised wealthy individuals for using them to attend climate-related events, calling them hypocritical. Meanwhile, a climate scientist said that real solutions lie in broader policy changes to reduce emissions across society, rather than individual actions alone.

The US accounts for the most private jets, about 68% of the world's total, with approximately 5 private jets per 1,00,000 people. They are also used in lower-income countries.

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Source: Newsweek