Pets produce 'as much pollution as private jets,' airline boss says
Why you should swap your dog for a private jet: Boss of luxury airline firm claims pets produce three times more pollution than private flights
- Patrick Hansen, chief executive of Luxaviation, made the claims at a summit
The boss of a luxury airline firm has claimed that pets can cause as much pollution as private jets, according to reports.
Patrick Hansen, chief executive of Luxaviation based in Luxemberg, told the Financial Times that one of his company’s customers produces around 2.1 tonnes of CO2 a year, or about the same amount as three cats – before a spokesperson corrected the statement by saying he meant three dogs.
Speaking at the FT’s Business of Luxury summit in Monaco he said private flights were ‘not going away, because they provide a service of time’ to the wealthy.
He reportedly said he was aware of the urgent need to limit the industry’s carbon footprint, but said the data should be put into perspective.
Mr Hansen said he was referring to data in a book by Mike Berners-Lee – ‘How Bad are Bananas’ – which said a cat kept as a household pet produces 310kg of carbon emissions per year, and a dog about 700kg, though the British author was reportedly ‘surprised and disappointed to hear data from my book being used to defend the bogus eco claims made by Luxaviation.’
Greenpeace is calling for the EU and national governments to ban private jets as part of a plan to tackle the climate crisis in a more equitable way (stock image)
Boss of luxury airline firm claims pets produce three times more pollution than private flights (stock image)
Aviation expert Justin Albertynas told MailOnline: ‘The executive’s statement about the emissions of three dogs should be taken with caution.’
The CEO of RatePunk said: ‘It’s crucial to acknowledge that private jets are often associated with luxury and convenience, catering to a small segment of the population.
‘The private jet industry, as a whole, is responsible for substantial carbon emissions due to the high fuel consumption and inefficient engines of these aircraft. Private jets are known to emit significantly larger amounts of greenhouse gasses per passenger mile compared to commercial airlines.
‘According to a study by Transport & Environment, private jets are five to 14 times more polluting than commercial planes (counting per passenger).
‘While pets do contribute to environmental impact, their individual carbon footprint is relatively small in comparison.’
Energy Secretary Grant Shapps has suggested the solution to private jet emissions in the short-term is sustainable aviation fuel.
SNP MP Deidre Brock (Edinburgh North and Leith) said: ‘Private jets have been in the headlines, described as incredibly carbon intensive.
‘The recent Department for Transport commissioned report suggests the carbon footprint of private jets in the UK is on par with 200,000 people taking a return flight to Hong Kong, and calls for the number of private jet flights to be halved.’
Mr Hansen said he was referring to data in a book by Mike Berners-Lee – ‘How Bad are Bananas’ – which said a cat kept as a household pet is responsible for 310kg of carbon emissions per year, and a dog for about 700kg (stock image)
Mr Shapps said: ‘Private jets almost in the headlines as much as motor homes.
‘The reality is that to solve this problem we need sustainable aviation fuel in the shorter-term. And that’s why the UK has one of the world-leading targets of 10% of SAF (sustainable aviation fuel) in our energy mix for jets in just six-and-a-half years time.’
This comes after research commissioned by Greenpeace Central and Eastern Europe revealed in March that the number of private jet flights in Europe increased by 64 per cent last year, and carbon-dioxide emissions from private flights more than doubled.
Greenpeace is calling for the EU and national governments to ban private jets as part of a plan to tackle the climate crisis in a more equitable way.
The research, conducted by Dutch environmental consultancy CE Delft, found that European private jet traffic soared over the last three years. The tally rose from 118,756 private flights in 2020, to 350,078 in 2021 and 572,806 in 2022, emitting over 5.3 million tonnes of CO2 in total.
The countries with the most private jet flights in Europe in 2022 were France, the UK and Germany.
The three most popular destinations of private jets in Europe were Nice (Côte d’Azur), Paris, and Geneva.
The busiest private jet route in Europe last year was Paris-London, with an average of nine private flights between those cities each day.
Greenpeace EU transport campaigner Thomas Gelin said as the findings were published: ‘Vulnerable people are on the front lines of climate destruction, and are the ones pushed into poverty by spiking fuel prices, but have done the least to cause these crises. It’s hugely unfair that rich people can wreck the climate this way, in just one flight polluting more than driving a car 23,000 kilometres. Pollution for wasteful luxury has to be the first to go, we need a ban on private jets.’
A hundred climate activists supporting Greenpeace, Stay Grounded, Extinction Rebellion, Scientist Rebellion and other climate movement groups from 17 countries disrupted Europe’s biggest private jet sales fair yesterday, the annual European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE) in Geneva, demanding a ban on private jets.
The action followed a series of protests against private jets, including at the Amsterdam Schiphol airport and actions as part of the Make Them Pay campaign, in the past months.
Protestors stuck giant tobacco-style health warning labels on the jets marking them as toxic objects and warning that ‘private jets burn our future’, ‘kill our planet’, and ‘fuel inequality’.
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