A study is drawing attention to the carbon footprint of the ultra-wealthy, SwissInfo reported.
Researchers tracked nearly 19 million private jet trips over a four-year period and found that pollution from these flights jumped 50% from 2019 to 2023.
The study, published in the journal Nature, put total carbon dioxide output from private aviation at 15.6 million tonnes in 2023. That was up from 10.7 million tonnes just four years earlier. Each flight pumps out roughly 3.6 tonnes of CO2 on average.
What makes these figures stand out is who's responsible. Private jets serve only 0.003% of people worldwide, yet they generate roughly 10 times more pollution per passenger than commercial flights.
And many of these trips are surprisingly short. The research found that 50% of the flights went no farther than 500 kilometers (311 miles). Another 900,000 trips spanned fewer than 50 km (31 mi), with the jets operating more like airborne taxis.
"We have seen a constant increase, suggesting that wealth growth is the main driver," Stefan Gössling, who co-authored the study and teaches at Sweden's Linnaeus University, told SwissInfo.
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Switzerland has become a hotspot for this type of travel. The small country accounts for nearly 5% of all private jet pollution in Europe. Luxury ski destinations and gatherings including those of the World Economic Forum attract more than 1,000 private aircraft during peak periods.
Reddit users had strong reactions to the findings.
"We're being told to cut back on eating meat. Do you think the rich are going to cut back on it and eat vegetables like us? Not a chance," one wrote. "They're polluting the planet more than the average person with their businesses and private jets, but while they get to continue their lifestyles, it is us that are charged more and the ones to cut back."
Another person pointed to the outsized impact, writing, "Private jet travel being 1/1400th of global emissions (if true) is huge, considering there's 8 billion people."
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