A turning point in the transition to sustainable travel?
Global companies could save emissions equivalent to multiple trips around the Earth if they avoid travelling by private jet
Even though private jets represent a fraction of total aviation emissions, their climate impact is disproportionately high.
A recent study reveals that
The 1% of people who travel by private jets produce roughly 500 times more CO2 in a year than the average person, globally
Private jet emissions rose by 46% between 2019 and 2023
As transport is the main source of emissions for the World Economic Forum (WEF), this year the WEF has significantly stepped up its efforts in encouraging participants to travel by train to Davos.
The WEF brings together leaders and CEOs to discuss energy transition, yet each year a significant number of participants arrive by private jet, highlighting a perceived hypocrisy surrounding the event.
We contacted companies from the Top Flyers in our Travel Smart Ranking, to ask them to commit to avoid flying by private jet to Davos. We have highlighted more sustainable alternative solutions:
Prioritise travelling by rail:
If flying is needed, prioritise a commercial flight with a significantly lower footprint.
We received two responses from companies committing to avoid private jets, with the CEO of Saint-Gobain travelling by train, and KPMG representatives travelling by commercial airline or train.
In an open letter we asked the participants of the WEF to comply with WEF’s sustainable travel policy by opting for rail and avoiding flying by private jet.
In addition we asked the WEF to serve as the safeguard of its recommendations and ensure compliance, to help spark broader change and boost the trend towards sustainable travel.
Between 2019 and 2023, nearly half of the close to 19 million private jet trips covered short distances, are under 500 kilometers.
Less polluting alternatives such as trains, which have a lower carbon footprint per passenger, would significantly reduce the climate impact of the journey.
private jet made
trips
tons of CO2 or
tCO2e, including non-CO2 effects
trip around the Earth in a petrol car
emissions saved
emissions saved by using the train
private jets made
trips
Close to
tons of CO2 or
tCO2e, including non-CO2 effects
trips around the Earth in a petrol car
emissions saved, if Europe-based executives had travelled by train
emissions saved by using commercial flights
The impact of long-haul private jet flights on the climate skyrockets because of their distance and non-CO2 effects, whose warming impact is estimated to be at least as important as that of CO2 emissions.
This would drop by using commercial flights with a much lower footprint.
Private jets journeys and ownership were identified using publicly available information such as the Opensky Network, ADS-B Exchange, Eurocontrol Operator List and national aircraft registries. We assumed each private jet carried three passengers given that very few organisations send more than six delegates to Davos.
Alternative commercial flight scenarios for Johnson & Johnson were modeled using OAG data, by selecting the most used aircraft on existing connections between the departure points of their private jets and Switzerland. Aircraft CO2 emissions were calculated with EUROCONTROL Small Emitters Tool and non-CO2 derived using a multiplier of 1.7 as recommended by UK DEFRA.
Train CO2e emissions were calculated using train operators’ data when available, or UK DEFRA. The emissions comparisons are based on ADEME’s carbon comparator. Emissions for Volkwagen’s journey using an electric vehicle were estimated using the energy consumption of a 2024 ID.7 Tourer pro (0.164 kWh/km), based on T&E’s modelling of the EU electricity carbon intensity updated based on the 2023 electricity generation data from Ember.
