Skip to main content

Hypocrisy at the COP26

Some environmental activists at the COP26 climate conference will be urging others to cut down on air travel and eat less meat, but little has been said about the billionaires flying in on their own planes on routes already served by commercial airlines.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' £48million Gulf Stream has led a 400-strong parade of private jets into COP26 including Prince Albert of Monaco, scores of royals and dozens of 'green' CEOs - as an extraordinary traffic jam forced empty planes to fly 30 miles to find space to park. 

Mr Bezos - who regularly lectures the world on climate change - arrived in Glasgow fresh from celebrating Microsoft founder Bill Gates' 66th birthday on a £2million-a-week superyacht off the coast of Turkey in an event that generated fresh claims of green hypocrisy. He reached the boat by helicopter, according to reports. 

On Sunday, MailOnline observed at least 52 private jets landing at Glasgow - while estimates put the total number flying in for the conference at 400. Conservative predictions suggest the fleet of private jets arriving for COP26 will blast out 13,000tonnes of carbon dioxide in total - equivalent to the amount consumed by more than 1,600 Britons in a year. 

Bank of America, which in PR documents boasts of its 'commitment to sustainability', was the registered owner of one private jet arriving in Scotland. They are far more polluting than commercial planes, cars or trains, with the typical one belching out two tonnes of carbon dioxide every hour. 

Joe Biden touched down in Edinburgh today while Germany's Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron of France arrived at Glasgow. President Biden alone will generate an estimated 2.2 million pounds of carbon to reach the summit, thanks to a fleet of four planes, the Marine One helicopter and an enormous motorcade including The Beast and numerous SUVs.  

Boris Johnson used his opening address to compare world leaders to James Bond trying to diffuse a 'doomsday device'. Hours after telling delegates at COP26 that the conference 'can and must mark the beginning of the end' of the climate change catastrophe, Boris Johnson admitted he would fly home to London from Glasgow rather than travel by rail.

I'm sure they all feel better now after they've patted themselves on the back.