• Environmental activists stopped private jets from taking off from Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport.
• 36 private jets landed at Sharm el-Sheikh between November 4 and 6.
• Private jets typically generate much higher emissions per passenger than commercial flights.

Delegates coming to the COP27 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, have drawn criticism on social media.

Hundreds of environmental activists stopped private jets from taking off from Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport the day before the conference started by squatting in front of their wheels and cycling around the airfield.

Between November 4 and 6, the commencement of the summit, 36 private jets landed at Sharm el-Sheikh, according to data.

24 of the additional 64 passengers who arrived in Cairo through Sharm el-Sheikh.

According to the COP27 website, delegates may use either airport.

Nine of the flights originated in the UK, and others were from other European nations like Italy, France, and the Netherlands.

Two people travelled to Cairo from the US, one from Atlanta and the other from Washington, DC.

Burning fuel during flights releases greenhouse gases, primarily carbon dioxide (CO2). These have an impact on global warming.

More emissions are produced per mile than with any other mode of transportation.

However, compared to commercial flights, private aircraft typically generate much higher emissions per passenger.

Although there are many different private jet models, the Gulfstream G650, which uses roughly 500 gallons (1,893 litres) of gasoline per hour, was the one that was flown into Egypt the most frequently before to Cop27.

Despite the protests, it should have taken a private plane roughly five hours to travel from Amsterdam to Sharm el-Sheikh, burning about 9,465 litres of aviation fuel.

According to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), every litre of aircraft turbine fuel burnt results in the emission of 2.5kg (5.5lb) of CO2. The output of this flight would be 23.9 tonnes.

However, BEIS advises that CO2 emissions numbers be multiplied by 1.9 to account for non-CO2 emissions generated by aircraft at high altitude, which, according to scientists, increase the warming effect, in order to “capture the maximum climate impact” of flights.

Therefore, if all 15 seats were occupied, the total emissions for this flight would be 45.3 tonnes of CO2 equivalent, with each passenger contributing roughly three tonnes to the overall amount.

These emissions values are estimations for the actual flights; they do not account for the emissions generated during the initial production of the private aircraft.

According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) estimate, our COP27 delegates’ emissions would have been around half a tonne each if they had chosen a commercial route from Amsterdam to Egypt, assuming they had flown first class.

A commercial flight can carry a lot more passengers than a private jet, despite using more fuel per hour, and as a result emits less carbon dioxide per passenger.

The government-leased Airbus A321-253NX carried the UK prime minister and foreign secretary to their destination.

Depending on the weight of the cargo and the altitude, that uses roughly 2.6 tonnes of fuel each hour.

According to conversion ratios provided by the government, the aircraft to Sharm el-Sheikh will have produced roughly 41 tonnes of CO2 emissions. This is increased to 78 tonnes of CO2 equivalent by applying the BEIS multiplier.

When questioned how many additional people were on the flight to Sharm el-Sheikh, No. 10 declined to comment.

“This delegation travelled on one of the most carbon-efficient planes of its size in the world and carbon emissions from these flights are also offset,” a government spokesperson said.

The worldwide lead for the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit told that focusing on the use of private jets by world leaders to travel to COP27 was “missing the point.”

He claimed that the impact of the decisions and promises taken at these summits outweighed the emissions.

“If you want emissions to come down, you want leaders in the room and media, scientists and stakeholders asking the important questions.”

Also Read

COP27: Climate conference speeches

Leaders, politicians, and delegates from over 200 countries aim to prevent the...