the bill that wants to leave Vip Corriere.it on the ground

“Only four hours of private jet flight emit as much CO2 as an Italian citizen emits during an entire year. These data tell us that all of this is unjust, iniquitous, superfluous and absurd. Even more absurd since for the majority of routes traveled by private jet there are alternatives, especially high-speed railway lines. An example? Among the most popular flights by private jet is the Milan-Rome route, easily covered by train in just three hours». Here it is the battle of Eleonora Evi, deputy of Alleanza Verdi e Sinistra and national co-spokesperson for Green Europe, against private jets, formulated in a bill presented on Thursday 13 April, to be broken down into five articles, and written to forbid letters to fossil private jets to fly. Among the main points we point out: the prohibition of the use of jets and private aircraft for the journey of short distances, less than 300 kilometres, and the extension of the prohibition of helitaxi throughout the Alpine arc.

The bill in 5 articles

There are no more excuses. Also thanks to the work of experts from the ‘Jet dei Ricchi’ collective (who proclaim on their Instagram profile: «We estimate the emissions from private flights of the richest people in Italy») and to the detailed reports of associations such as Greenpeace and Transport&Environment, today we have a very precise photograph of the devastating climate impact and the “enormous climate injustice caused by private jets”, adds Evi, who, together with her party and a large number of Italians, intercepts the European ferment on this issue between France, Holland, Belgium and Austria. In Amsterdam, in Schiphol airport, the most important Dutch airport where night arrivals and take-offs have already been prohibited (from midnight to five), it was decided that, between 2025 and 2026, private jets will no longer land or take off .

Stop private jets by 2030

To understand how much the economic aspect dominates in all of this, suffice it to say that 40 percent of private jet flights departing from Schiphol have holiday destinations as destination, for example: Cannes or Ibiza, easily reachable even by line. In 2022 alone, the number of private jet flights increased dramatically: in Europe, with a plus 64%. And in Italy with a plus 61%. Not only. «Our country, with over 55,000 flights, which caused more than 260,000 tons of CO2 (double compared to the previous year) is in third place in the Old Continent: it is as if 50,000 of our compatriots had polluted in an entire year», observes the deputy of the Alleanza Verdi e Sinistra, whose long-term goal is the definitive stop, by 2030, of private jet flights powered by fossil fuels, and allowing only vehicles with electric or green hydrogen technology to take off.

The polluter pays

Meanwhile, by applying the principle that “the polluter pays”, the MP asks, together with the other ten deputies who signed the bill, that excise duties and taxes be increased (up to 400 euros per passenger) for those who fly with a private jet powered by fossil fuels, as well as limiting this type of flight to short distances where travel alternatives exist, such as rail transport. During the press conference for the presentation of the bill, there was no lack of comments from the other signatories on the “Measures on private air transport for the reduction of climate-changing emissions”. Nicola Fratoianni, national secretary of the Italian Left, remembering how this battle against fossil fuel private jets was already announced last Septemberduring the electoral campaign, recalled that: «Intervening to limit and progressively ban the use of these means of transport when not necessary means, on the one hand, investing in the ecological transition and in the protection of our environment, on the other, investing in social justice”.

The Greenpeace report

«The Government’s Economy and Finance Decree does not address the social question, the cost of living, inequalities, the fight against climate change. This is why we will be extremely punctual on this Def and will make our proposals in Parliament», adds Angelo Bonelli, co-spokesman of Green Europe and deputy of the Left Green Alliance. In the bill, most of the data was obtained from the transport campaign of Greenpeace Italyin which, referring to the latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), we read that private jets cause on average 5 to 14 times more emissions than commercial flights and 50 times more than a train ride. «I am the emblem of a polluting and unfair sector. In 2018, half of all aviation emissions were caused by 1 of the world’s population, while 80 percent of the world’s people never traveled by air.

Five flights to the wine fair

Finally, as we have repeatedly reported on Pianeta 2030 and in the Corriere DataRoom investigation on the private jets of billionaires, carried out by Milena Gabanelli and Francesco Tortora, it is above all major events, international appointments, the occasion for greater pollution by private jets. Which certainly has not escaped another inspirer of the bill presented this Thursday. Let’s talk about “Jet of the rich”, the group of researchers who, through their social account, constantly update on the air traffic in Italy of private flights. Including those who reached Verona from 2 to 5 April, on the occasion of “Vinitaly”, the international wine exhibition.

«Many, in order not to miss the inauguration, arrived in Verona by private jet, leaving behind tons of CO2 emissions. On the first day of the fair alone, at least five private planes landed at the Verona airport. Some, even, traveling very short distances arriving, in fact, from Venice or to then reach Milan». And who knows it could happen during the week of the Salone del Mobile, from 17 to 23 April in Milan, when exhibitors and visitors from all over the world will reach the Lombard capital. More than a few, it is probable, aboard a private jet.