In Park Lane in London there is a showroom for private aircraft.
You can relax in a section of the cabin taken from a business jet, with cocoa cream leather sofas and plush swivel chairs.
Steve Varsano, founder of The Jet Business, walks me through my brand choices if I had an appetite for luxury and at least £10m: Citation, Gulfstream or Embraer. But he disputes my description.
“I'm allergic to the word luxury because I think corporate jets are a business tool. They're a time machine. 70% of all passengers who board corporate jets are middle management. So it's really a utility. It's a means of transportation.”
This week, at the hotel next door, hundreds of people are gathering for more money in this exclusive world and more people traveling on private jets.
Steve Varsano speaks to Sky's Tom Heap
The two-day event is called Corporate Jet Investor 2024 and they have invited the Sky News Climate Show to join them.
It is extraordinary and wonderful that we are among hundreds of people who want more of us to ride a highly polluting mode of transportation.
For every passenger mile, on average, taking a private jet emits 10 to 14 times more greenhouse gases than a scheduled commercial flight.
“Aside from being an astronaut getting on a rocket, there's no way one person's work could produce that much carbon,” says Todd Smith, a former pilot and founder of Safe Landing, an organization that advocates for greener aviation, a just transition for… the speed”. Aviation workers and ban on private aircraft.
“The use of private planes represents the height of injustice, considering that flying is the quickest way to burn the planet.”
It is this combination of emissions and exclusivity that makes private jet passengers such a popular target. Anyone come on board – Rishi Sunak, King Charles, Bill Gates, Taylor Swift – They stand accused of climate crimes, and if they utter a syllable of concern about global warming, they are accused of hypocrisy as well.
But how big is the sector? There are an estimated 22,000 private aircraft in the world, 70% of which are in America. In Europe, the United Kingdom is the biggest player. The total number of aircraft has doubled since 2000.
Every man and woman I spoke to at the conference said they cared about them Climate change They have a plan to reach net zero by 2050.
Their justification is based on three main pillars. Private jets are an essential tool for wealthy business leaders who are short on time.
Their sector emits only 2% of total greenhouse gases from aviation (itself 2% of total carbon emissions from human activity), so it is disproportionately maligned.
They are leading the way in using more climate-friendly technologies such as sustainable aviation fuel derived from plants, waste materials or even hydrogen.
The problem with sustainable jet fuel is that it is only available in small quantities compared to demand from aircraft, and all attempts to increase its use have been problematic.
The land demand for plant-derived fuels is staggering: fueling all of America's airplanes with biofuel would consume all of America's farmland.
We do not have waste volumes, and many feedstocks, such as waste fat, are used more efficiently in making diesel fuel for trucks. Synthetic fuels made from green hydrogen would require significant amounts of our renewable electricity production.
Matt Finch is from the Europe-wide clean transport campaign group, Transport and Environment, and is one of the pundits invited, along with Todd Smith and Green Party speakers, to speak and challenge delegates at this conference.
He says business aviation is not doing enough to cut carbon, and that governments are running out of patience.
“I think regulation will come in the future. If the sector doesn't move fast enough, it will be regulated out of existence.”
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Holger Kramer, who runs the European Business Aviation Association, scoffs at such regulations.
“These decisions and discussions are completely irrational because corporate aviation represents 2% of… [total aircraft] emissions. So, if governments ground business jets or cancel business aviation, you simply won't be able to measure that.
“Ultimately, every gram of CO2 is equally important, so, for climate, it is even more important to ask the question: What is the contribution of the sector as a whole?”
Private jets are icons of wealth and power – the ability to conquer distance on your own terms. But as the climate crisis requires us all to make increasingly difficult choices, these ultra-wealthy, ultra-polluting travelers are getting defensive.
Climate with Tom Heap airs at 3.30pm and 7.30pm on Saturday and Sunday on Sky News
