Carbon emissions are a major catalyst of global climate change, trapping the sun’s heat and resulting in global warming. While there is a general understanding that we need to globally reduce emissions in order to avoid potential disruptive impacts of climate change, there is much discourse on how the responsibility of reducing them should work. Are certain areas, countries, or regions more responsible for this reduction than others, or are there individuals just as responsible too?
One example of individual responsibility surrounding carbon emissions are private jets, which are described as “the worst offenders for emissions per passenger.” Private jets are a popular form of travel for celebrities, and they are predominantly being used for short flights instead of choosing a more environmentally conscious alternative. A 2022 study by the Yard Digital PR team researched 1,500 different flights in in order to assess the damaging impact that they have on climate change. That being said, Yard found incredibly dangerous and worrisome data while doing so.
Yard’s data reveals that celebrities have emitted an average of 3376 tonnes of carbon emissions in their private jet usage in 2022, which is 482 times more than the average person’s yearly emissions. Additionally, average flight times were 72 minutes long with an average of 67 miles travelled per flight. Yard discovered that the most severe offenders of private jet emissions were Taylor Swift, Floyd Mayweather, and Jay-Z.
Taylor Swift was found to be the largest carbon emissions polluter of 2022 despite her not touring at all during this year. She had a total of 170 flights since January and 22,923 minutes, or 16 days, in the air. Swift’s flights were 1,184 times greater than the average person’s annual emissions, and her shortest flight was 36 minutes long.
Boxer Floyd Mayweather is the second greatest offender of carbon emissions, with 177 flights taken in 2022 overall and nearly 25 flights taken per month. Mayweather’s flights were 1,011 times greater than the average person’s annual emissions, and his shortest flight reported was just 10 minutes long.
Rapper Jay-Z is the last of the top three polluters, with 136 flights taken and a total flight time of 19,296 minutes. His flights were 997 times greater than the average person’s annual emissions, and his shortest flight reported was 29 minutes long.
Digital sustainability director of Yard, Chris Butterworth, shared his thoughts on private jet emissions and expressed how celebrities are the harmful regarding carbon emissions. This causes a great divide between the rich and working and middle class people regarding flights, travel, and general emissions. While there is much debate surrounding these topics and who should take responsibility for carbon emissions, it is beneficial that more information is arising about celebrities’ environmental impacts. Because their dangerous use of emissions is receiving more coverage in the media, this can allow audiences to speak out, recognize their own environmental impact, and resort to environmentally friendly alternatives.
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