Fighting climate crisis on Davos’ agenda, but people arriving by pvt jets

The World Economic Forum tried to mitigate the environmental impact of all those private jets traveling to and from this year’s conference in the Swiss town by giving them the option to fill up on so-called sustainable aviation fuel, which is designed to lower carbon emissions compared to normal flights. Many attendees who left the conference after the last session on Friday will nevertheless have had to take commercial planes that use conventional fuel.

Given the WEF’s effort this week to tackle the risks facing the world economy from climate change — environmental issues topped its agenda for the first time in the event’s 50-year history — it’s an uncomfortable situation on its own doorstep. It’s also a high-profile example of an issue confronting the entire conference industry: as concern about environmental damage from air travel has given birth to a “flight shame” phenomenon which has darkened carriers’ outlook, there’s the potential for a knock-on impact on the business of organizing business meetings.