400 private jets at COP27: a “hypocrisy” denounced

Various estimates have been made of the number of jets carrying delegates to the meeting in the seaside resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on the shores of the Red Sea.

According to a report released Thursday by Climate Action Against Misinformation, an NGO that analyzes trends in fake news on social media, the posts were often criticized for being “hypocritical and elitist.”

Some 400 private jets have landed in Egypt for COP27, which will begin on November 6 and end on November 18, Egyptian sources confirm widely reported. Some media outlets relied on flight tracking apps to cite lower estimates, but some private planes did not. taken into account.

An erroneous report in Spanish put the number of private jets at 1,500. Along with it was an old photo of the planes taken at an aviation forum in Las Vegas (US Southwest).

“More than 400 private jets have landed in Egypt in recent days,” a source close to Egyptian aviation authorities, requesting anonymity, told AFP on Thursday.

“There was a meeting before COP27 where officials were expecting these jets and arranged for the planes to be accommodated at Sharm el-Sheikh airport,” the source added.

On November 6, Ahmed Moussa, a talk show host close to the Egyptian leadership, boasted that “the Sharm el-Sheikh airport has received more than 300 private jets.”

On November 5, hundreds of climate activists blocked private jets from taking off from Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, calling for a reduction in air traffic and a limit on private jets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Passengers on private jets generate significantly more CO2 emissions per person than passengers on commercial flights.

According to the European NGO Transport and Environment Campaign for Clean Transport, a private jet emits two tonnes of carbon dioxide per hour and pollutes five to 14 times more per passenger than an airplane.

More than 33,000 participants are registered for COP27, where high-level discussions are taking place on increasing funding for developing countries to green their economies and prepare for the effects of global warming.

Climate change caused by humans burning fossil fuels is worsening natural disasters, including floods, heat waves and droughts, which could intensify in coming decades if CO2 emissions are not reduced, scientists say.

“Humanity has a choice: cooperate or perish,” declared United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on November 7 before nearly 100 heads of state gathered at COP27.