As part of a “travel smart” campaign this year, World Economic Forum (WEF) organisers offered a 100 per cent discount on rail fares for participants coming from Europe. In other words, they were free. The move is designed to lessen the four-day event’s climate footprint.
Transport is the main source of emissions and a big share comes from private jets. According to one estimate, 1,040 private jets flew in and out of airports serving the Swiss Alpine town during the 2022 event. That’s not a great look for an organisation with a self-proclaimed goal of tackling the climate emergency.
Private jets are the most polluting mode of transport per passenger kilometre, up to 14-times more polluting than commercial jets and 50-times more than high-speed trains. And Switzerland has some of the best train services in Europe. Emissions from private jets are going up instead of down.
They rose by 46 per cent between 2019 and 2023, according to data from European campaign group Transport & Environment (T&E). Despite the offer of a refund, Davos bigwigs don’t seem inclined to surrender their luxury mode of transport. Only two multinationals - building materials giant Saint-Gobain and consultancy KPMG - confirmed to organisers that they intended to travel by commercial airline or train to reach Davos.
“Any private jet going to Davos sends the message that large global companies, with all their means and power to lead by example, lack the real will and responsibility to make simple .