Private & Business Aviation Emissions: Why Luxury Flying Is a Growing Climate Concern

Private jets constitute a small part of the realm of global aviation, but their climate footprint is anything but small.  According to the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), private jets alone emitted an estimated 19.5 million tons of greenhouse gases in 2023, singlehandedly accounting for nearly 4% of all aviation-related emissions. This isn’t just a stagnant issue; it’s being reinforced by activity trends. Private Jet Card Comparisons’ 2025 analysis of flight activity shows private jet flying running high above the numbers of 2024, with an 8% jump year-over-year. That momentum itself reinforces and explains the reason why private jet emissions have increased by over 25% over the past decade. Geography compounds this issue. The U.S. itself accounts for 65% of all private jet emissions that took off from its airports, and 55% of GHG emissions globally with Florida, Texas and California leading the way.   

Emissions through private aviation might seem marginal on paper, but its timing and intensity are what make it consequential in a time when global emissions are deteriorating fast. As of 2025, the total emission of global greenhouse gas has reached its zenith at 30.99 billion tons of CO₂. The stakes are at an all-time high, as there remains little to no room for compromise in the global carbon budget, with June alone totaling 5.12 billion tons.

While it’s true that private jets aren’t even halfway responsible for all of transport emissions, they have high-carbon activity, hence aggravating a climate system that’s already under strain. Although they typically serve a fraction of passengers, the output is hazardous as they emit the same amount of greenhouse gases as hundreds of cars do. As Daniel Sitompul, at the ICCT, puts it, “A typical private jet emits as many greenhouse gases each year as 177 passenger cars or nine heavy-duty highway trucks”. In climate terms, one aircraft can equal the footprint of an entire neighborhood.  

Yet private aviation continues to find its sustained demand, and the sector isn’t pulling the brakes anytime soon. At the concluding phase of the second quarter this year, IQ reported a $55.5 billion backlog of new private aircraft in demand. In addition, the supply is responding effusively well, as the manufacturers are expected to deliver around 820 new private jets in 2025. In the backdrop of surging greenhouse gas output and rapidly shrinking carbon margin, the growing number of private aviation is hard to justify. It’s not the biggest polluter, but among the vivid cases of where luxury demand is suffocating climate limits.