A luxury concierge company is advertising its services and offering to take delegates to the November climate change conference in Dubai. COP28 Accommodation Dubai offers to fly attendees to the summit via private jet but promises to “offset” the carbon footprint by planting trees or using “sustainable aviation fuel.”
According to British oil giant BP, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) produces 80% less carbon than traditional jet fuel. It is made from “solid waste from homes and businesses, such as packaging, paper, textiles, and food scraps that would otherwise go to landfill or incineration.” However, it is very rarely used, and the UN has set a target that 10% of travel should be fueled by SAF by 2030.
The world’s climate change conferences often involve world leaders traveling by private jet and staying in luxury accommodations – sometimes at taxpayers’ expense. Last year, 400 private planes were used to transport delegates to Cop 27 in Egypt, where officials boasted of the fact that a local airport in Sharm el-Shiekh was spruced up and newly decorated in anticipation of the arrival of high-profile attendees on expensive planes. More than 33,000 people attended the event.
Similarly, America’s climate envoy John Kerry regularly takes private flights to events worldwide in which he discusses reducing carbon output. When a journalist in Iceland in 2021 asked why he had flown privately and whether this was hypocritical, Kerry replied, “It’s the only choice for somebody like me.”
In 2018, the Daily Caller, a conservative publication, asked several major corporations and individual high flyers, including Al Gore, who has made millions by warning about the end of the world, if they would agree to ban private air travel to reduce global carbon emissions. Of the 31 people and organizations approached, only two replied. These were Virgin and Munich Re – a German insurance group. The former said it sought to use clean fuel in the future, while the latter said it does not own a private jet.
