The wealthy have so taken to jet-setting that they’re flying private for business, leisure, and on the weekends. And more is to come, according to a study recently published by Communications Earth & Environment. The burgeoning private-aircraft industry is expecting 8,500 new corporate jets to be delivered over the next decade.
It’s a trend that brings with it an increasingly catastrophic global toll. Private-jet travel accounted for 15.6 million metric tons of CO2 in direct emissions in 2023, or about 3.6 metric tons of CO2 per flight, the study found. That’s nearly the equivalent of the total yearly emissions produced by one average person—all in a single private-jet flight, the study revealed.
This is all taking place as experts are warning that global emissions need to decline to reach climate goals. And private-jet-related emissions stem from a small cohort: 0.003% of the global population, who also tend to be among the richest in America. Some 68.7% of aircraft are registered in the United States. Yet, the emission spew is most likely to impact less affluent groups, added the report’s researchers.
Indeed, as wealth-inequality booms, so does the private-jet industry. Despite their damaging impact, private jets have become increasingly popular. Between 2019 and 2023, private-jet emissions soared by 46% and the sector continues to expect “strong growth,” the authors wrote.
And it’s not even for the sake of overseas travel; some people are simply taking their jets out for short distances. Almost 19% of flights are shorter than 200 km (or only 124 miles away), per travel-pattern analysis. Basically, half (47.4%) of flights are less than 500 km, about the distance from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, noted Quartz.
These jets “are used routinely, and in many instances appear to replace cars for time gains or convenience,” researchers wrote, adding that “many flights are made for leisure purposes.”
“This report presents further proof that billionaires are causing the climate crisis,” Jonathan Westin, executive director of the advocacy organization Climate Organizing Hub, told the Associated Press. “They are clinging to their private jets and oil profits while regular people see increasing floods, hurricanes and wildfires.”
Indeed, climate change has turned disaster all the more deadly. And without regulation, the rich could continue running up the world’s emissions, in conflict with efforts to mitigate climate impact. The world is “on the brink of an irreversible climate disaster,” warned climate scientists in a recent report.
In 2019, the richest 1% shed as much carbon pollution as two thirds of humanity, according to a U.K. nonprofit focussed on eradicating poverty, Oxfam. Elon Musk’s yearly private-jet emissions alone are 132 times higher than the average American’s entire carbon footprint, per a report from the Patriotic Millionaires and think tank Institute for Policy Studies.
