By Cecile Mantovani and Joanna Plucinska
GENEVA (Reuters) -Around 100 protesters blocked entry to planes on exhibition on a tarmac at Europe’s flagship business jet event near Geneva Airport and briefly interrupted air traffic on Tuesday to demand a ban on private jets over their climate impact.
Climate activists have long taken issue with the high carbon emissions per person associated with private jets as estimates show the use of private jets has almost doubled globally in the last two decades.
The industry says it is doing everything it can to boost its use of sustainable aviation fuel, which produces fewer carbon emissions than traditional jet fuel, and to bring in innovations to make flying more efficient.
The protest took place on the tarmac where business jets from companies like Airbus and Gulfstream were on display, with activists carrying signs saying “#BanPrivateJets” and “WARNING: Private jets drown our hope.”
They sat below the jets in bright yellow vests and blocked entry to prevent potential buyers from getting on the aircraft at the conference as security scrambled to clear them from the area.
“In one hour alone, a private jet can emit up to one tonne of CO2 – that is double the average yearly consumption of one human being living in Africa,” said Klara Maria Schenk, a transport campaigner for environmental group Greenpeace.
“It is only a very small elite who can afford to rent or even own a private jet. These people excessively pollute and the rest of us, specifically, the most vulnerable people will pay for this,” she added.
Geneva Airport said on Twitter that traffic had been interrupted by a protest but had progressively resumed from 1240 CET (1040 GMT).
The industry acknowledges that it has an image problem when it comes to its climate impact, but executives repeatedly pointed to their commitment to decarbonise the industry throughout the conference.
“We need to work a little bit more here in Europe, because European bodies are not totally convinced…it is really a little bit against business aviation,” said Eric Trappier, CEO of Dassault Aviation, at a pre-conference panel on sustainability on Monday.
“We need to collectively try to explain to them the use of the business and the importance of it in the resurgence of the economy.”
Another group, actif-trafiC, is also planning a protest at the conference, expected to kick off around 1645 CET (1445 GMT) on Tuesday.
“1% of people are responsible for half of the emissions of the aviation sector,” reads a public notice for the protest.
“Nothing symbolizes this injustice better than private jets, which emit five to 14 times more CO2 per passenger than a commercial flight.”
(Writing by Joanna Plucinska; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
