We are, rather shockingly, top of the private jet league in Europe. Last year, a private jet took off from the UK once every six minutes - and many of these journeys could, according to a recent report, easily have been done by train. One, between Blackbushe and Farnborough in Hampshire, could even have been cycled in 30 minutes.

When it comes to aviation it seems like the UK Government is intent on driving up emissions – and letting the wealthy off the hook.

Whilst France is taxing private jets, our government seems happy to continue to let them pump out the around 500,000 tonnes of CO2 they did last year. And those private jet emissions are only growing. Analysis by the Dutch environmental consultancy CE Delft found that the number of private jets taking off from the UK increased by 75% between 2021 and 2022 to 90,256 flights.

According to another study, by the clean transport group, Transport & Environment, in just one hour, a single private jet can emit two tonnes of CO2 – a quarter of what the average person in the EU emits over an entire year.

What Transport & Environment would like to see is a ban, by 2030, on all aircraft that are not hydrogen or electric, for private jet flights under 1000km in Europe – and, till that date, a ticket and fuel tax imposed on fossil-fuel private jets, similar to that already in place in Switzerland.

The idea of an increased tax on private jets seems a no-brainer – and the Campaign for Better Transport has been calling on the UK government for a “super tax” on private jet passengers. Yet our government doesn’t deliver.

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It’s galling to find that currently private jet passengers are charged the same rate of air passenger duty in the UK as business or first-class passengers – despite the flights being between five and 15 times more polluting.

The UK Government's failure to do anything much on private jets fits into a general pattern of policy that is pro-aviation. Campaigners have also long been calling for a frequent flyer levy – surely another no-brainer that would introduce greater fairness given that just 15% of Brits take 70% of flights. Yet that too has been spurned.

A recent report by OpenDemocracy revealed that Rishi Sunak's slashing of airline passenger duty on domestic flights and rejection of a new ‘frequent flyer levy’ followed lobbying by the airline industry.

Meanwhile, Sunak flits around the country by private jet, taking last year, according to Government data, around £500,000 worth of such trips in less than a fortnight. With a man who is almost a billionaire in charge of the country, is it any surprise we are not getting tough on private jets?

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Even the general cut in APD for domestic flights seems to fit with a pro-flight agenda. Compare the UK approach with France which just saw its proposed ban on domestic flights – for where there is an alternative train route of less than 2.5 hours – approved by the European Commission.

As was expected, the APD cut is already having an impact, with new domestic routes being announced. 2021 research found cutting air passenger duty in half would see around 222,000 passengers a year shift from rail to air - which would mean 1,000 extra flights and 27,000t CO2e per year.

While this in itself is not good, it’s worth remembering that we could save as much if we could get rid of less than 6 percent of those private jet flights.

Please fly more, our government seems to be saying. Especially if you have a private jet.

As someone who tries to keep flight to a minimum – whilst occasionally flying – and frets on the rare occasion I do take to the air, I feel as if the system is making a joke out of my qualms about aviation. It is sending out the message that it is fine, if not good, to fly - and do it as much as you like.

What pains me most, however, given that research has shown that 50 percent of aviation emissions are produced by 1 percent of the global population, is the lack of a frequent flyer levy and any serious attempt to drive down private jet use.

Aviation may contribute only 2.4 percent of global emissions – but it remains both a sector that will not decarbonise for decades and one that is quite often, driven not by necessity but by indulgence. That’s particularly so when it comes to private flights – where we see the rich, flitting across the world as if nothing, not even a climate crisis, can trump their right to the high life.