Navigating the Climate Conferences: Comparing the Carbon Footprint of Private Jet Travel and Other Modes of Transport to COP28

The annual Conference of the Parties (COP) meetings are pivotal events for collective action to combat climate change. This year, as world leaders, government officials and observers convene in Dubai, UAE, for COP28, climate justice will be a central theme. In light of these negotiations, we present an updated version of UCL’s carbon footprint calculator to compare different modes of transport from the UK to COP28 in Dubai. Analysing private jet data from the 2022 COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, we then investigate the carbon footprint of private jet travel to COP28. The carbon footprint calculator demonstrates the carbon inefficiency of air travel compared to alternative modes of transport to COP28. As the most polluting form of transport, the carbon footprint of private jets is disproportionately high. We find that for a journey from London to Dubai, private jet travel is 9 times more polluting than a commercial flight, 35 times more than train transport and 52 times more than coach travel. Given the primary objective of COP conferences to discuss and negotiate climate change policies and actions, the use of private jets by prominent individuals undermines the core mission of these discussions. The research calls for transparency, accountability and informed choices in travel decisions to align with climate change commitments. Additionally, we explore the significance of the chosen COP venue in promoting equity, the associated carbon footprint and the influence of the hosting nation on negotiations.

Content

Author and article information

Journal

Title: UCL Open: Environment Preprint

Publisher: UCL Press

Publication date (Electronic preprint): 16 October 2023

Affiliations

[1 ] Department of Geography, North-West Wing, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK;

[2 ] Department of Political Science, The School of Public Policy, University College London, The Rubin Building, 29/31 Tavistock Square, London, WC1H 9QU, UK;

[3 ] Department of Science, Technology, Engineering and Public Policy, University College London, 11-20 Shropshire House, Capper Street, WC1E 6JA, UK;

[4 ] Institute for Global Prosperity, University College London, Maple House, 149 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T7NF, UK;

[5 ] Engineering for International Development Centre, Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction, University College London, 1–19 Torrington Place, London, WC1E 7HB, UK;

Author notes

[* ]Email: carole3096@ 123456googlemail.com .

Author information

Carole Roberts https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1131-8263

Simon Chin-Yee https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4635-1944

Richard Taylor https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9867-8033

Mark Maslin https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9957-3463

Lisa Vanhala https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4886-0061

Penlope Yaguma https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4711-9389

Jacqueline McGlade https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8657-6734

Priti Parikh https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1086-4190

Article

DOI: 10.14324/111.444/000218.v1

SO-VID: cf4d9d3c-42b8-4b31-a945-74f890001da2

License:

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

History

Date received : 16 October 2023

Comments

UCL Open: Environment Editorial Office wrote:

Date: 24 October 2023

Handling Editor: Dr Stephen Blenkinsop

This article is a preprint article and has not been peer-reviewed. It is under consideration following submission to UCL Open: Environment for open peer review.

2023-10-24 09:13 UTC

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