Environmentalists Call Out WEF’s Hypocrisy Over Climate Change

WEF is infamous for leaving a massive carbon footprint, with the rich taking chartered flights to get to Davos.

In this 12 January file photo, a sign reading “Davos”, pictured prior to the World Economic Forum WEF in Davos, Switzerland.

(Photo: AP)

The 2018 Annual World Economic Forum Meeting will see close to 3,000 dignitaries descend upon the Swiss mountains at the Alpine resort of Davos-Klosters from 23 January to 26 January.

A popular haunt for skiing enthusiasts, Davos transforms into a hub for the elite 1 percent of the world, who attend the WEF to hobnob among peers and discuss economic and climate issues, while arriving at solutions for global problems – of which a boiling topic is expected to be ‘climate change.’

It is no doubt ironical that the summit is infamous for leaving behind a massive carbon footprint year on, of which 90 percent is created from transportation alone.

Chennai-based environmentalist Nithyanand Jayaraman vehemently believes that the solution to climate change and reducing carbon footprint cannot come from the 'rich and elite', who are regulars at the summit. "The problem is with the consumption pattern where the elite – who are a very small portion of the world's population – enjoy a lion's share of resources from the present and future," he says.

Not having a Davos summit will be better for the environment, than having one.

Nithyanand Jayaraman

Conservation scientist and former executive director at Greenpeace India Ravi Chellam echoes Jayaraman's sentiments, demanding that the summit be made more inclusive to address issues real-time. Speaking to The Quint, he says:

The current economic model largely rests on the pitch to consume more, and it is time that we accept and act on the fact that resources are finite and limited. So the summit needs to be far more inclusive in its participants and really ask the tough questions especially of the rich and powerful while recognising that economic development, environmental and ecological integrity and functioning and social well being are all intricately linked.

What's The Estimated Carbon Footprint?

A majority of the 3,000 participants are expected arrive in Davos in their own chartered flights and private jets. In 2015, media rose in outrage over the number of private jets commandeered to fly the leaders to their Swiss destination – a whopping 1,700 – all in a bid to discuss climate change, among many other issues.

Air travel is one of the biggest contributors in an individual’s carbon footprint.

Private jets are the most preferred method of transport for the rich and the powerful, not only due to its lavishness, but also due to the remote location of the conference, which is around 150 km from Zurich. Davos does not have an airport of its own, and the Zurich airport handles a bulk of the flights and air traffic arising from the conference.

Additionally, a military air strip near Zurich airport is also opened around the time, to ease the pressure off the Zurich airport. The only way to get to Davos from Zurich is to travel by car, or train, or for the elite – a helicopter.

Grist, in 2013, conducted an analysis of the carbon footprint generated by dignitaries while merely getting to the WEF. According to their website, the most modest method to get to Davos would be to fly to Zurich, and then endure by a three-hour-long train journey to get to the Alpine resort.

A long haul air travel generating up to 0.21 kg/km/passenger of carbon dioxide was taken as the standard for air travel measurements. In addition, the three-hour train journey generated up to 22 kg of CO2 per person.

In 2013, 2,500 participants flocked the WEF summit in Davos. Grist calculated the cumulative air distance travelled by the participants to be roughly around 55,000 kms – which amounted to 2.47 million kg of carbon dioxide. Add to this the 57,860 kg generated by train travel. Thus the total carbon footprint of those arriving into Davos is roughly 2.5 million kg.

This number doubles when they jet out off the resort – leaving the footprint at 5 million kg.

And this is only as the participants arrive and leave the venue. Their contribution to the footprint over their stay at Davos is not calculated, and nor is the footprint generated by natives and staff of the resort factored in the calculation by Grist.

Footprint Only Set to Grow More

On average, this can be taken as a very modest calculation of carbon footprint generated from the WEF summit that ironically gathers to discuss climate change and set carbon emission goals. The footprint can only be expected to escalate this year, with the surge in participation.

According to LeasePlan, the CO2 emissions at Davos from the vehicles alone can amount up to 3.09 million tonnes, this year. The organisation recommends that the attendees at Davos could erase this footprint by opting to travel by a low-emission fleet.