The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, is set to begin Tuesday, with a special focus on saving the Earth from the ravages of “climate change.” The conference, titled “Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World” and attended by some of the world’s most powerful people, will even feature a keynote address by teenaged climate activist Greta Thunberg.
“How to Save the Planet” is one of the “key themes” of the event.
And this year, Davos organizers are begging the global elite, who travel to the gathering almost exclusively by private jet, to use “green fuel” as a way of offsetting their incredible, unparalleled, contributions to global warming. They’re even providing the “sustainable aviation fuel” to private jet owners who use the Zurich airport.
The average American contributes about 20 metric tonnes of CO2 to the Earth’s atmosphere per year, according to Science Daily. The global average, accounting for developing nations and farming communities, is about 4 metric tonnes of Co2 per person per year.
The Davos conference is expected to release an incredible 18,090 metric tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere.
That’s largely because most attendees use private planes to get to the remote resort where the conference is held. And instead of enduring a 2-hour-long car drive to the center from the airport in Zurich, many charter helicopters.
The conference itself claims to be “carbon neutral” and organizers claim that the event uses “locally-sourced food suppliers, introducing alternative sources of protein to reduce meat consumption, sourcing 100% renewable electricity, and reducing or eliminating the use of materials that cannot easily be recycled or re-used, such as carpets and introducing more electric vehicles,” according to Business Insider.
According to Vice News, Davos is also taking efforts to curb the emissions from private jets, which are among the worst polluters. The rich and famous Davos attendees will have the option to do the “bare minimum,” Vice claims, by electing to fill their private jets’ fuel tanks with “sustainable aviation fuel,” which reduces their carbon emissions by a paltry 18%.
“The World Economic Forum has actually become obsessed with fighting back against flight shaming using this idea that SAF can make flying more sustainable,” Vice reports. “We should, of course, move toward more sustainable fuels, but WEF seems to want to ‘cultivate demand’ for SAF by making the ultra-rich feel slightly better about their awful habits. WEF is promising to help the aviation industry reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.”
Those who don’t agree to use the “green” fuel, conference coordinators say, can purchase “carbon credits” — a sort of “carbon indulgence” that pays for tree planting or other Earth-saving efforts so that the elite can maintain their expensive transportation — and the can get a special incentive to travel by train.
Greta Thunberg, who opened the conference, gave a variation of her “world on fire” speech from the United Nations, calling out aviation and air travel, specifically, as a contributor to climate change, and berating the Davos attendees for ‘talking” and “doing nothing” to combat what she calls a “crisis.”
Despite her allegations, Davos attendees say they’re not so sure she’s done her homework on their contributions to global environmental stewardship. “It’s not just talk,” one told the National Post, “it’s translating into billions of dollars in investments in the energy transition.”