Scientists say carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from private jet flights increased by 46% in 2023 compared to 2019, producing about 15.6 million tons of CO₂, equivalent to what 3.7 million gasoline cars emit in one year.
This percentage is small (1.8%) compared to global CO₂ emissions. However, this small percentage of people emit, in a year, “more than a small town in central Africa
Researchers tracked all private flights worldwide, including summer weekend trips to Ibiza, Spain, the World Cup, and the UN climate conference in Dubai.
Most private jets were registered in the US (69%), followed by Brazil, Canada, Germany, Mexico and the UK.
According to the research team, flying a private jet for just one hour can release more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than the average person produces in a year.
“There are a lot of people using these aircraft as taxis, where you cover whatever distance by aircraft simply because it’s more convenient,” Professor Stefan Gossling, from Sweden’s Linnaeus University, who led the research, said.
“If somebody’s flight emits in one hour as much as an average human being emits in a year – just to watch a soccer game – then perhaps it shows those people think they are outside the standards that we have as a global community.”
