Climate activists urge Cannes stars to ditch private jets amid global fuel crisis

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - This photograph shows a general view of the red carpet arrival area at the 79th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France — AFP pic

PARIS, May 14 — Climate activists are urging movie stars to fly economy or take the train to Cannes after saying private jets burned two million litres of kerosene getting them to the film festival last year.

“The rich and famous burning through scarce fuel to get to a film festival isn’t just tone deaf, it’s obscene,” said former Air France pilot Anthony Viaux, one of several to have signed up to the call.

With the war in the Middle East sparking a global fuel crisis, research by environmental group Transport and Environment (T&E) said 750 private jet flights ferried A-listers and Hollywood executives to the world’s biggest film festival last year.

“That’s equivalent to what 14,000 passengers would have consumed flying between Paris and Athens,” the group’s head of aviation, Jerome du Boucher, told AFP today. 

Former private jet pilot Katie Thompson said stars should follow the example of “Narcos” actor Pedro Pascal and fly economy class to Cannes.

“Last year Pedro Pascal flew to Cannes in an economy seat. There’s no reason the rest of them can’t do the same, or take the train where possible,” she said.

De Boucher said they were lobbying European governments to ban private jets.

“In a context of climate crisis and oil shock, it seems absolutely obvious that this kerosene should be reserved for more essential uses at a time when we’re facing fuel shortages,” he said.

Escaping carbon taxes 

T&E say that two-thirds of private jets are exempt from carbon taxes under current EU rules, amid fear of reprisals from the Trump administration if the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is expanded to include them.

Normal airline passengers within the bloc have to pay the taxes while the super rich escape them, they said.

Even some millionaires are calling for change.

Investor Julia Davies, co-founder of Patriotic Millionaires UK, said “private jets are a luxury only the very wealthiest few can afford, yet most of these flights are still not subject to fuel or carbon taxes—taxes the majority of people pay every day as they travel to work.”

Countries across the world have been hit by fuel rationing as Iran’s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz heads towards it fourth month after the United States and Israel attacked Tehran.

More than 500 flights have already been cancelled in France alone, du Boucher added, with up to 20 million passengers likely to be affected by disruption in Germany over the summer holiday period.

“This oil crisis is an opportunity to put the question of private jet use on the table,” De Boucher said.

“The EU needs to close the loopholes to make sure that all private jets and international flights (outside the EU) are subject to carbon taxes in future,” said veteran pilot Viaux.

“EU policymakers shouldn’t let Trump’s administration dictate the rule,” he said.

“This oil crisis is an opportunity to put the question of private jet use on the table,” De Boucher said.

He said the group’s research showed that if everyone taking private jets for the Cannes Film Festival used commercial ones, the festival could go 40 percent of the way towards its CO2 emissions reduction target for 2030.

AFP have asked the Cannes Film Festival for comment. — AFP