Pictures and stories like this from the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow have been accompanied with quotes like "why couldn't they just meet on Zoom?". Accusations of hypocrisy have been showing up all around the internet, so let's deal with it.
Why couldn't they meet on Zoom? If you were sick and in hospital, would you want medical professionals and family to appear on Zoom? No, of course not. Our planet is sick, arguably it's on life support. Now's not the time to "phone it in".
Why don't they take the train to Glasgow? A huge number of attendees arrived in Edinburgh by train. Even though it was incredibly crowded and inconvenient. They are climate change activists after all!
Why did so many of them fly to a climate conference, in private jets no less? Well this one is a bit silly, but let's try, in four parts:
urgency Going back to the hospital room analogy - if a family members is very sick in hospital, do you get there as soon as you can or do you find the slowest way to them?
security We would want the best medical specialists for a sick family member. Likewise, we need the most powerful people in the world to work together on climate change Some of these powerful people are heads of state who are required to go by private jet. (Two of the five jets in this photo taken at Glasgow airport are official state transport for the Prime Minister or President - you can see Israel and Canada's official VIP livery.) The others - celebrities and CEOs - would not come at all if they had to ride, walk, or float to Glasgow.
alternatives A few folks got there by boat, including some Greenpeace members. But boats and ships are slow, and in terms of greenhouse gas emissions on a per mile basis, most ships are dirtier than flying.
perspective Yes, aviation does contribute to climate change. Less than 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions come from aviation.
So, let's be clear, most of the most strenuous objections to the jet-setting climate conference attendees were from folks who don't see climate change as caused by humans and don't think it requires urgent action.
Jesus once said, about hypocrisy: "Why do you look at the speck in your neighbour's eye but ignore the log in your own?"
We all need to open our eyes and remove the logs or the specks and whatever else obscures our vision about the irreversible changes happening to our planet. We must all do more to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. If you have to fly, you can buy carbon offsets from organisations like GoldStandard. (It's so easy, my my youngest child at age 14 did so for me as a Christmas gift.) Let's also keep working on reducing the other 98% of emissions that our lifestyles contribute to climate change.
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