Aviation is in the crosshairs of conservationists. But those who opted for the train to go to COP26 on Sunday had to back away from this more polluting mode of travel, as ‘a tree’ fell on Sunday disrupting rail traffic between London and Glasgow. catenary

Others have preferred private jets to planes to get to Glasgow, and this traffic jam in the Scottish sky has been the joy of social networks since the opening of COP26 on Sunday.

The Daily Mail reported Monday that an average private jet trip emits 10 times more greenhouse gases per person than a single trip on an economy class flight, and 150 times more than a train trip. The English daily calculated that travel during COP26 would produce more greenhouse gases than 1,600 Scots burn in a year.

More than 400 private jets have been identified, a constant ballet that causes disorder. Witness the return of Boris Johnson from the plane on Sunday, November 1. After calling for efforts against global warming at COP26, the British prime minister returned to London by plane, a more polluting mode of transport than the train, prompting Downing Street to justify itself on Monday.

bad example

Coming straight from the G20 meeting in Rome on Sunday, the conservative leader was joined by Scotland, where the UN conference is being held until 12 November, in the government’s official Airbus, key to the future of the planet. Union Jack colors. They used the same equipment to return to London on Tuesday, after Downing Street warned that if COP26 failed to advance efforts to limit global warming, “our children […] Won’t forgive us.”

“It is important that the prime minister can move forward in the country and we face significant time constraints”, justified Boris Johnson’s spokesman, asked by journalists in Glasgow. “The fuel we use is sustainable and emissions are offset as well,” he insisted.

Glasgow is a full hour by plane from London, but the journey by train can take more than five hours.

Other leaders have also been chosen for their poor ecological visits, most notably US President Joe Biden, whose G20 convoy in Rome over 80 total including his highly fuel-intensive official car, nicknamed “The Beast” (“The Beast”). More vehicles were involved.”)

“Boris Johnson rightly warns that the world is “one minus midnight” in terms of climate change,” replied Mohamed Addo, director of the NGO Power Shift Africa, who believes the train would therefore have been more appropriate.

He recalled that the British government this week lowered taxes on short flights, which was causing problems for environmentalists. “Perhaps if the government used taxes on domestic flights to improve its rail infrastructure, low-carbon modes of transport would be easier, cheaper and more widely used.”