During a recent BBC interview, Bill Gates stated that his use of private jets for travel is acceptable due to the fact that he is making a larger impact on combating climate change than others.
Billionaire Microsoft co-founder, philanthropist, and environmental advocate Bill Gates is dedicated to saving the planet, but with one exception – he refuses to fly in economy class.
Gates asserted that his substantial investments in climate change activism, which amount to billions of dollars, negate any concerns about his personal carbon footprint.
“Should I stay at home and not come to Kenya and learn about farming and malaria?” Gates asked in the interview with Amol Rajan.
“I’m comfortable with the idea that not only am I not part of the problem by paying for the offsets, but also through the billions that my Breakthrough Energy Group is spending, that I’m part of the solution,” Gates continued.
“Well, I buy the gold standard of, funding Climeworks, to do direct air capture that far exceeds my family’s carbon footprint,” Gates added.
Most recently, Gates traveled throughout Australia on his $70 million luxury private jet to deliver speeches on the issue of climate change.
Gates, who reportedly considers the energy crisis to be a positive prospect, possesses a fleet of four private jets with a total worth of $194 million dollars.
According to a study conducted by Stefan Gössling, a professor of economics at Linnaeus University, Bill Gates traveled a staggering 213,000 miles on 59 private jet flights in just 2017.
World Bank data shows that Gates produced an estimated 1,760 tons of carbon dioxide emissions, which is over a hundred times the average emissions per person in the United States.
Gates has drawn a lot of criticism for these recent remarks, with critics claiming that what he really means is that he can afford to emit carbon dioxide with impunity.
