Sunday, October 31, 2021
Can Boris Johnson kick his polluting habits to stop climate change?
It is difficult to see how anybodycan take the UK and its prime minister seriously when they talk about the need to tackle climate change. The latest example of ministerial hypocrisy is featured in the Mirror, who report that Boris Johnson has spent at least £216,000 on private flights since becoming Prime Minister, having taken more than 20 flights on private aircraft in two years:
The polluting PM pumped an estimated 52 tons of CO2 into the air with party political campaign trips on private jets and VIP charter planes.
It comes after the Sunday Mirror revealed Mr Johnson had travelled more than 1,200 miles in just two weeks on a £47 million Gulfstream jet owned by JCB digger magnate and Tory donor Lord Bamford.
Almost all of the private flights taken by Mr Johnson since becoming PM could have been made with forms of transport which produce far less carbon dioxide - often with little difference in travel time.
And it would have taken a year for a typical petrol-powered car to emit the carbon dioxide released by the private jet flights in just an hour.
Mr Johnson has sought to boost his green credentials ahead of COP26, with the government's Net Zero proposals including plans to replace gas boilers, encourage the switch to electric cars and plan millions of trees.
But he's resisted calls to encourage people to take fewer flights.
Research commissioned by the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy was pulled from the government's website last week, shortly after it was published.
But the document called on politicians to “lead by example” in reducing their air travel.
“Actions can speak louder than words,” the paper read.
“And so the decisions of government and members of government signals the importance, validity, credibility, and moral authority of the net-zero message.
“Perceived hypocrisy can do a lot to undermine efforts to build public engagement and support.”
The paper adds that research by campaigners Transport and Environment found private jets are between 5 and 14 times more polluting than commercial planes per passenger - and 50 times more polluting than trains. They add that just 1% of the world’s population contribute around 50% of global aviation carbon emissions.
Perhaps Boris Johnson is being influenced by Car26.org who, according to this article on Open Democracy, is a “new campaign group calling for a referendum on net zero proposals and a pause in eco regulations until such a ballot is held”.
The polluting PM pumped an estimated 52 tons of CO2 into the air with party political campaign trips on private jets and VIP charter planes.
It comes after the Sunday Mirror revealed Mr Johnson had travelled more than 1,200 miles in just two weeks on a £47 million Gulfstream jet owned by JCB digger magnate and Tory donor Lord Bamford.
Almost all of the private flights taken by Mr Johnson since becoming PM could have been made with forms of transport which produce far less carbon dioxide - often with little difference in travel time.
And it would have taken a year for a typical petrol-powered car to emit the carbon dioxide released by the private jet flights in just an hour.
Mr Johnson has sought to boost his green credentials ahead of COP26, with the government's Net Zero proposals including plans to replace gas boilers, encourage the switch to electric cars and plan millions of trees.
But he's resisted calls to encourage people to take fewer flights.
Research commissioned by the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy was pulled from the government's website last week, shortly after it was published.
But the document called on politicians to “lead by example” in reducing their air travel.
“Actions can speak louder than words,” the paper read.
“And so the decisions of government and members of government signals the importance, validity, credibility, and moral authority of the net-zero message.
“Perceived hypocrisy can do a lot to undermine efforts to build public engagement and support.”
The paper adds that research by campaigners Transport and Environment found private jets are between 5 and 14 times more polluting than commercial planes per passenger - and 50 times more polluting than trains. They add that just 1% of the world’s population contribute around 50% of global aviation carbon emissions.
Perhaps Boris Johnson is being influenced by Car26.org who, according to this article on Open Democracy, is a “new campaign group calling for a referendum on net zero proposals and a pause in eco regulations until such a ballot is held”.
