Don’t pitch jets against pets in the heating up climate debate | Mint - Mint

Don’t pitch jets against pets in the heating up climate debate | Mint

The CEO of private-aircraft operator Luxaviation Group, Patrick Hansen, defended his industry's environmental record by comparing the carbon emission of one of his company's customers to that of three dogs in a year. However, the comparison has been criticized as unequal, as Luxaviation's fleet of business jets emitted 150,000 tons of CO2 in 2022, flying 67,000 passengers. The company has roughly 45,000 unique clients, with an average carbon emission of 3.3 tons per customer. The environmental impact of pets is also significant, with the average-sized cat producing 310kg of CO2-equivalent per year and the average dog 770kg.

If you’re going to try and defend your industry’s carbon emissions, you’d do well not to aim at people’s beloved pets. But that’s exactly what Patrick Hansen, CEO of private-aircraft operator Luxaviation Group, did at the Financial Times’s Business of Luxury summit. Defending his industry’s environmental record, he explained that one of his company’s customers produced the same amount of CO2 flying privately as three dogs did in a year.