The hundreds of elites descending on Davos in private jets – in the name of offering the rest of humanity climate solutions – are really offering a “masterclass in hypocrisy,” critics say, as a new study found over a thousand private flights were taken at airports by the resort that hosts the notorious World Economic Forum’s annual meeting.
“Given that… the WEF claims to be committed to the 1.5°C Paris Climate Target, this annual private jet bonanza is a distasteful masterclass in hypocrisy,” said Greenpeace’s transport campaigner, Klara Maria Schenk, who added that “it’s about time our political leaders start to lead by example instead of producing hot air in secret meetings with big business.”
The World Economic Forum claims its highly-secretive Davos meeting is merely a “platform to engage in constructive, forward-looking dialogues and help find solutions through public-private cooperation.” According to its website, this year’s assembly is focused on generating “Cooperation in a Fragmented World.”
With 2023’s gathering still several days away, Swiss authorities have reportedly already locked down all local access roads and are scanning the fingerprints of attendees to verify their identities.
Greenpeace International wrote in a Friday statement that research they commissioned - and carried out by Dutch environmental consultancy CE Delft - found that “during the week of last year’s World Economic Forum 1,040 private jet flights arrived and departed out of airports serving the Swiss luxury ski resort Davos, with about every second flight attributed to the meeting.
“53% were short-haul flights below 750 [kilometers] that could have easily been train trips, with 38% flying ultra short distances of under 500 km,” they noted.
According to their findings, one private jet traveled just 21 kilometers to arrive.
“The rich and powerful flock to Davos in ultra-polluting, socially inequitable private jets to discuss climate and inequality behind closed doors,” Schenk noted. “Do we really believe that these are the people to solve the problems the world faces?”
Private jet flights touching down and departing from the World Economic Forum in 2022 reportedly produced nearly 10,700 tons of CO2 – or roughly what 350,000 average cars emit in a week.
According to researchers, total emissions from private jet flights quadrupled during the week before and after Davos, and most of the flights were undertaken by WEF participants.