France proposes 'crackdown' on private jet flights amid climate crisis
France’s Transport Minister has said he wants to crack down on private jet flights, amid a growing public backlash over the number of times the country’s wealthiest citizens hop on a plane despite the climate crisis.
On Friday, a private jet belonging to the Bolloré Group - which owns French media giant Vivendi - flew three times on the same day, releasing tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, it was revealed.
Transport Minister Clément Beaune said he was ready to “act and regulate private jet flights”, if necessary and would push the issue of private jets at an upcoming European transport ministers meeting in October, amid calls from environmentalists to ban the planes altogether.
“I think we have to act and regulate private jet flights,” Beaune told Le Parisien. “This is becoming the symbol of a two-speed effort [to fight climate change].”
France reportedly has the highest number of private jet movements in Europe, with super-rich owners jetting into Paris and the French Riviera.
Several options are being studied: possible commitments made by the companies owning these private planes, or obligations of transparency, regular publications by the owners of jets.
Beaune also said he was ready to broaden the EU’s new emissions trading scheme (ETS) proposals to include private jets.
The bloc-wide revamp of the ETS is currently on the table as part of the bloc’s efforts to reach a 55 percent cut in emissions by 2030.
The I Fly Bernard twitter handle was set up to track the flights of French billionaire and LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault. It has since started tracking more of France’s mega-wealthy citizens and residents as it seeks to make public “the ecocidal lifestyle” of France’s super-rich.
Julien Bayou, secretary of France's Green party, has said that the government was looking for an EU-wide response to the issue of private jets and told Libération that the time had come to “ban all private jets”.
“This measure would have an impact on a very small number of people, with immense ecological benefits,” he said, and announced that he would table a bill in Parliament on the matter in the weeks to come.
“Some people are totally disconnected and take the plane like others take the Metro,” Bayou said.
“When the government refuses to tax companies who are making huge profits from the energy crisis we’re experiencing, it sends a clear message: impunity for the richest.
“How can we ask the population to make an effort if the richest are exempt from everything?”
But a spokesperson for the Transport ministry insisted that an outright ban was not on the cards, and that any regulation was “a matter of reflection at this stage”.
“Business aviation is an important economic activity in France - it is not a question of banning it and the most effective way is to define rules at European level,” the spokesperson told Franceinfo.
France in 2022 placed limits on commercial carriers that banned any domestic flights where the journey could be done by train in less than two-and-a-half hours, but this rule does not apply to private jet flights.
According to data provided by the European Business Aviation Association (EBAA) in 2019 France has been the country in Europe with the highest number of private aircraft movements for several years (over 120,000), ahead of Germany and the UK.
The Le Bourget airport in Paris is primarily concerned with private jet flights, while wealthy visitors to the Riviera frequently arrive by private jet - including a group from London who tried to land in Cannes for a holiday in April 2020, when France was on strict lockdown.
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On Friday, a private jet belonging to the Bolloré Group - which owns French media giant Vivendi - flew three times on the same day, releasing tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, it was revealed.
Transport Minister Clément Beaune said he was ready to “act and regulate private jet flights”, if necessary and would push the issue of private jets at an upcoming European transport ministers meeting in October, amid calls from environmentalists to ban the planes altogether.
“I think we have to act and regulate private jet flights,” Beaune told Le Parisien. “This is becoming the symbol of a two-speed effort [to fight climate change].”
France reportedly has the highest number of private jet movements in Europe, with super-rich owners jetting into Paris and the French Riviera.
Several options are being studied: possible commitments made by the companies owning these private planes, or obligations of transparency, regular publications by the owners of jets.
Beaune also said he was ready to broaden the EU’s new emissions trading scheme (ETS) proposals to include private jets.
The bloc-wide revamp of the ETS is currently on the table as part of the bloc’s efforts to reach a 55 percent cut in emissions by 2030.
The I Fly Bernard twitter handle was set up to track the flights of French billionaire and LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault. It has since started tracking more of France’s mega-wealthy citizens and residents as it seeks to make public “the ecocidal lifestyle” of France’s super-rich.
Julien Bayou, secretary of France's Green party, has said that the government was looking for an EU-wide response to the issue of private jets and told Libération that the time had come to “ban all private jets”.
“This measure would have an impact on a very small number of people, with immense ecological benefits,” he said, and announced that he would table a bill in Parliament on the matter in the weeks to come.
“Some people are totally disconnected and take the plane like others take the Metro,” Bayou said.
“When the government refuses to tax companies who are making huge profits from the energy crisis we’re experiencing, it sends a clear message: impunity for the richest.
“How can we ask the population to make an effort if the richest are exempt from everything?”
But a spokesperson for the Transport ministry insisted that an outright ban was not on the cards, and that any regulation was “a matter of reflection at this stage”.
“Business aviation is an important economic activity in France - it is not a question of banning it and the most effective way is to define rules at European level,” the spokesperson told Franceinfo.
France in 2022 placed limits on commercial carriers that banned any domestic flights where the journey could be done by train in less than two-and-a-half hours, but this rule does not apply to private jet flights.
According to data provided by the European Business Aviation Association (EBAA) in 2019 France has been the country in Europe with the highest number of private aircraft movements for several years (over 120,000), ahead of Germany and the UK.
The Le Bourget airport in Paris is primarily concerned with private jet flights, while wealthy visitors to the Riviera frequently arrive by private jet - including a group from London who tried to land in Cannes for a holiday in April 2020, when France was on strict lockdown.
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