Model and businesswoman Kylie Jenner, Real Madrid player Karim Benzema, hotel owner Peter Stordalen, artist Taylor Swift and the richest French businessmen all have one thing in common: they use private jets.
This summer, many people started following the popular accounts on Instagram and Twitter, which “track” private jets in Europe and the rest of the world.
Criticism: Real Madrid star Karim Benzema is one of those who have received criticism for his use of a private jet. Photo: Facsimile / Instagram
– I think we have to do something and organize flights by private planes, French Transport Minister Clément Bonn told Le Parisien newspaper.
He believes the use of private jets by billionaires and others has become a symbol of how unfair efforts against climate change and rising energy prices are.
save hard work
– Turn off the lights, turn down the air conditioning, take a cool shower, and turn off the internet at home when you’re not using it.
This summer, ordinary people across Europe were encouraged to contribute daily, to save electricity and reduce their climate footprint.
In August, a savings campaign began in the European Union, where the goal is to save 15 percent on gas consumption. The reason is the lack of gas from Russia due to the war in Ukraine. In many countries in Europe, gas is used to generate electricity, or for example to heat water.
Some are completely disconnected and travel on flights the same way others use the subway, Julian Bayo, the Green Party leader, tells Liberation. The party was early in proposing a ban on private jets at the EU level.
The use of private jets has proliferated after the pandemic, and has not declined as dramatically, as commercial air traffic has in recent years.
Between 2005 and 2019, emissions from private aircraft increased by 31 percent, according to figures from the European Union for Transport and the Environment.
Flying a private jet is probably the worst thing you can do for the environment. Wealthy outrageous polluters are flying around as if there is no climate crisis, Andrew Murphy, director of aviation for the organization, tells Euronews.
According to him, private planes pollute 10 times more than scheduled ones, and 50 times more than trains. Four hours on a private plane emits as much carbon dioxide as the average person does in an entire year.
– You or me?
Kylie Jenner has been reviewed for use on a private jet this summer.
Two Planes: Kylie Jenner and boyfriend Scott Travis each have their own private jet, and maybe they’re having a hard time choosing? Photo: Facsimile / Instagram
Along with rapper Travis Scott, she kissed in front of their private jets with the text: Do you want mine or yours?
Later it turned out that Jenner uses planes even on short flights. One took 17 minutes, a distance that used to be a 40-minute drive.
In France, some of the country’s richest people have their own social media accounts, which follow their private jets. One of these is Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH, the world’s largest company for luxury brands.
Arnault controls, among other things, Louis Vuitton, Dior and the champagne brand Moët & Chandon. Incidentally, aircraft tracking has led to a debate as to whether this is not an invasion of privacy.
Tracker: On Twitter and Instagram you can follow accounts that track the movements of private aircraft. Photo: fax / Twitter
According to Greenpeace and Oxfam calculations, 63 French billionaires emit carbon dioxide equivalent to half of France’s combined population.
Last Friday, it was revealed that media mogul Vincent Bollory, who owns a number of media outlets in France, released 22 tons of carbon dioxide in one day – using his plane three times.
This is the same thing an ordinary car is supposed to export in ten years.
In the United States, artist Taylor Swift tops the statistic for the most common use of private jets. The top ten also includes film director Steven Spielberg, Kim Kardashian, rapper Jay-Z, TV star Oprah Winfrey and actor Mark Wahlberg. The list was published by public relations agency Yard at the end of July.
At the table of EU summits
In Europe, a large percentage of private planes take off in France or Great Britain. Not least, there are plenty of American entertainers who travel to the Riviera during the summer months. Other popular destinations for private jets are Switzerland and Italy.
Equal rules: If Transport Minister Clement Boone does not get a ban, he suggests regulating the use of private jets in other ways. Photo: Geert Vanden/AP
The French transport minister believes that EU countries should have the same rules when it comes to private jets. The ban proposal will come up when EU transport ministers meet in Prague on October 20-21.
If there is no agreement on the ban, it will regulate the use of private aircraft. Among other things, it may become appropriate to link aircraft to the new European Union climate quota system.
Norway has been a member of the quota system since 2008. Private aircraft are exempt from the quota system in the European Union. The rules for private jets are also likely to apply to Norway, through the European Economic Area Agreement.
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