Sadiq Khan comes under fire for his 14,000-mile flight to attend climate change summit in South America

• Sadiq Khan will fly 14,000 miles this week to address a climate change summit
• Campaigners accused him of hypocrisy for travelling 7,000 miles to Argentina 
• The summit is a ‘hybrid in-person and virtual event’, prompting the questioning 

Sadiq Khan came under fire last night after it emerged he will fly 14,000 miles this week to address a climate change summit in south America.

The London Mayor will be accompanied by six members of City Hall staff for the trip to Buenos Aires on Wednesday, the Mail on Sunday can reveal.

Campaigners accused him of hypocrisy for attending the three-day C40 World Mayors Summit in the Argentine capital, which is almost 7,000 miles away.

The meeting is designed to bring together mayors and business leaders from across the world to ‘demonstrate what a strong global coalition united on radical climate action can achieve’.

But the summit touts itself as a ‘hybrid in-person and virtual event’, prompting climate campaigners to question Khan’s need to fly there with a six-strong entourage.

Sadiq Khan came under fire last night after it emerged he will fly 14,000 miles this week to address a climate change summit in south America

He will travel with Shirely Rodrigues, his deputy mayor for Environment and energy, in addition to five members of his ‘skeleton staff to support his London duties’.

Their travel and accommodation is paid for by C40 and not with taxpayer’s money.

Although Mr Khan is slated to make ‘welcome remarks’ at an event entitled ‘achieving climate justice’ on Wednesday it is unclear what other talks he will take part in.

The Mayor’s office has insisted that the delegation are traveling on commercial planes and the maximum amount of ‘sustainable aviation fuel’ (SAF) will be contributed to their flights.

SAF is lower carbon-intensity fuel that can be produced from renewable feedstocks such as waste vegetable oils, fats and grease and are better for the environment than traditional fossil fuels.

But campaign group Flight Free UK have dubbed this claim ‘misleading’.

The group’s director Anna Hughes said: ‘Claiming that the Mayor is committed to reducing emissions by using SAF is misleading: so-called “sustainable” fuels don’t actually reduce tailpipe emissions, and are blended with at least 50 per cent conventional jet fuel.’

She added: ‘While it is essential that world leaders meet to discuss taking action on the climate, it is more powerful to demonstrate true climate leadership through our actions.

‘Attending such a conference virtually would allow the Mayor’s voice to be heard, while showing that flying transatlantic and adding multiple tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere is not appropriate at a time when people are dying as a result of rising emissions. ‘

Mr Khan’s trip will generate around three tons of carbon dioxide per passenger, according to analysis by Flight Free UK. For context, that is more than the average meat-eater’s diet over the course of a year (2.06 tons) and more than is produced when driving an average car for a year (1.73 tons). Moreoever, the combined carbon dioxide generated by Mr Khan and his entourage is over five times what the average resident of Argentina emits over the course of a year.

Flight Free UK’s director Anna Hughes said: ‘Claiming that the Mayor is committed to reducing emissions by using SAF is misleading: so-called “sustainable” fuels don’t actually reduce tailpipe emissions, and are blended with at least 50 per cent conventional jet fuel.’

A spokesperson for Mr Khan said: ‘Climate change is one of the biggest threats we face as a planet today – which is why, as the elected Chair of the C40 network of global cities, the Mayor will be attending the World Mayors Summit in Buenos Aires from 19th -21st October.

‘Cities are responsible for over 70 per cent of global carbon emissions and the Mayor will be leading critical discussions at the summit on how they can cut emissions and energy use more quickly, tackle the cost of living crisis, create green jobs and build resilience to climate change.’

Last month it was announced that Mr Khan is to publish his first book next year, described by his publisher as a ‘warm and practical guide’ to tackling the climate emergency.

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