RISHI Sunak’s controversial trip to Scotland was worse for the environment than the carbon emissions of eight UK households in an entire year, a new analysis has found.
The Prime Minister is under fire over a trip to Aberdeen this week, with new data from carbon accounting specialists showing a return flight from London to the city would pump the equivalent of 23.74 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere.
That is about the same emissions created by the gas and electricity generated by 8.5 UK households in one year, according to research by the company Carbon Responsible which helps firms record their emissions.
Attempting to justify his travel arrangements on Monday, the Prime Minister told the BBC it was a better use of his time to fly because it was faster than taking the train.
A flight to Aberdeen from London is seven times faster than travelling by train, Carbon Responsible said, but 528 times more polluting.
Matt Paver, the chief operating officer of Carbon Responsible, said: "At such a critical moment in the climate crisis, leaders must walk the walk – not fly a jet.
“It's no longer acceptable to follow the precedent set by those who came before, the urgent path to net zero requires us to reflect on old behaviours and change them.
“It sends a contradictory message when the journey taken to announce a carbon capture project emits the equivalent CO2 to emissions from 8.5 homes’ worth of annual electricity and gas usage.
“We can't expect ordinary people to make sacrifices that those in power wouldn't.
“That's why data like this is so important: it tells us exactly the impact of our choices and urges us to make better ones.
“If time efficiency is the issue here, we should be doing all we can to make alternative, greener routes viable for everyone – whether that's government officials or holidaymakers.
“The most important time consideration is, after all, how little time we have left to address the climate crisis."
