The Powerful Are Different From You And Me

"We recognize that the impacts of climate change at 1.5°C are much lower than at 2°C. Keeping 1.5°C within reach will require meaningful and effective actions and commitment by all countries, taking into account different approaches, through the development of clear national pathways that align long-term ambition with short- and medium-term goals, and with international cooperation and support, including finance and technology, sustainable and responsible consumption and production as critical enablers, in the context of sustainable development."

"We acknowledge that methane emissions represent a significant contribution to climate change and recognize, according to national circumstances, that its reduction can be one of the quickest, most feasible and most cost-effective ways to limit climate change and its impacts."

G20 post-summit Communique

 

"If the G20 was a dress rehearsal for COP26, then world leaders fluffed their lines."

"Their communique was weak, lacking both ambition and vision, and simply failed to meet the moment."

"Now they move on to Glasgow where there is still a chance to seize a historic opportunity, but the likes of Australia and Saudi Arabia need to be marginalized, while rich countries need to finally grasp that the key to unlock COP26 is trust. " 

Jennifer Morgan, executive director, Greenpeace International

G20 Leaders posed for a picture by the famed Trevi Fountain, Rome    Getty Images

"Private jets are a disaster for the climate."

"A single, one-hour private flight emits two tons of carbon emissions, which is a quarter of the carbon produced by the average European in a whole year."

Helena Bennett, senior policy adviser, Green Alliance

You just cannot please everyone. All the pomp and pompous displays with the glorified collective presence of the leaders of the most influential, wealthiest nations on Earth cannot dispel the impression that climate change warriors have garnered of the wanton energy wastefulness that conferences like that of the G20 and their follow-up 13-day conference in Glasgow sponsored by the UN and dubbed COP26 climate talks are in and of themselves energy wasters -- both of the fuel to convey them and of the exhaustive efforts to convince the world their decisions are meaningful.

 

"We'll cap oil and gas sector emissions today and ensure they decrease tomorrow at a pace and scale needed to reach net-zero by 2030", gushed Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of his country's energy resources, preferring to leave Canadian oil and gas abundance underground and import energy from Saudi Arabia instead. A logic that stymies the cerebral process. This is a man determined to lead the world toward salvation, offering Canada as a sacrifice to offset the growing emissions from China.

 

The COP26 host, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, addressing world leaders, urged them to put a halt to "quilting the Earth in a suffocating blanket of CO2", to "get real" about planetary responsibilities. Presumably, following his example. And they have. Private jets all around. Private aircraft are known to emit between ten and 60 times more carbon dioxide per passenger as do scheduled commercial flights and up to 140 times as much as a diesel-powered train. 

World leaders and delegates -- roughly 30,000 delegates representing 197 countries visiting Glasgow for two weeks -- are being watched environmentally and sourly accused of contributing to a "climate disaster" with their profligate use of hundreds of private jets, flying to Glasgow, along with helicopters and motorcades. Starting with the U.K. PM who will return to London via private jet, eschewing the rail system that would take 4-1/2 hours' transit, Glasgow to London.

 

President Joe Biden listens to a question during a news conference at the COP26 U.N. Climate Summit, Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Evan Vucci/AP)

 

An estimated 200 small executive jets are being deployed, each of which takes six hours to generate as much CO2 as the average individual will in a year. Regular passenger aircraft could have been chosen alternately, and in some instances, rail. With few exceptions every national leader is making use of private aircraft, carrying fewer passengers than commercial flights, in the process making quite the environmental impact.

Take, for example, U.S. President Joe Biden whose Air Force One and an additional four large jets accompanying him generating close to 1,000 tons of CO2 in his round-trip from America to Europe. A motorcade was the chosen mode of transit for the president to travel from Edinburgh airport to the Glasgow summit; a motorcade consisting of 22 vehicles whose function created about four tons of CO2 for the 150-km round trip. If memory serves, this is a hugely committed environment president.

The Beast, the president's armoured limousine, ekes out eight miles per gallon, emitting 4kg of CO2 each mile, whereas a hybrid family vehicle emits something like 0.12kg per mile. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen flew to Glasgow via jet. She who has a habit of "air taxis" for over half her official trips abroad; hops to Paris and London from Brussels included. 

Setting an example for the world in a global responsibility to react environmentally to reverse the horribly negative impacts of climate change, a process helped in part by human waste and negligence of nature's gift to humanity.