Private jets polluted more than all flights from Heathrow, study finds

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🗞️ Driving the news: A new report by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) reveals that private jets produced more greenhouse gas emissions in 2023 than all commercial flights departing London Heathrow, Europe’s busiest airport
• The study shows that the United States alone accounted for 65% of private jet flights and 55% of related emissions globally
• Researchers traced over 3.5 million private jet flights, identifying nearly 23,000 aircraft

🔭 The context: Private aviation has long been criticized for its disproportionate environmental impact, with previous data estimating it contributes 2% of all aviation emissions
• This new analysis goes further by pairing flight trajectories with emissions models, pinpointing top-polluting airports and highlighting the dominance of short-haul flights
• Notably, 18 of the 20 most polluting airports are located in the U.S., where private aviation is most prevalent

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: Private jets emit 5 to 14 times more greenhouse gases per passenger than commercial flights and up to 50 times more than trains
• Their increasing use by the ultra-wealthy exacerbates global emission inequalities and challenges climate targets
• With emissions from private jets rising 25% over the past decade, this trend threatens to undermine broader decarbonization efforts

⏭️ What's next: Despite growing scrutiny, policy measures to curb private jet emissions have largely failed
• A proposed U.S. tax hike on jet fuel was shelved, while new FAA rules now allow jet owners to hide flight data, reducing transparency
• As affluent users continue to drive demand — highlighted by events like Jeff Bezos’s wedding — targeted regulation remains a key challenge for climate policy.

💬 One quote: “Private jets are like the canary in the coal mine here for a hyper unequal warming world,” said Dan Rutherford, ICCT’s senior director of research

📈 One stat: In 2023, Florida and Texas alone generated over 543,000 private jet flights — surpassing the entire European Union

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