Following the heavy sanctions imposed on Russian oligarchs by the war against Ukraine, some of the largest and most extravagant superyachts in the globe are being relocated out of EU waters. Other compounds have already been made.
Billionaire and Putin ally Roman Abramovich, who made his fortune selling oil and gas, has moved two of his megayachts including arguably the biggest and most expensive on the planet into sanction-free waters, including in the port of Bodrum in Turkey.
But as this cat-and-mouse game becomes a glitzy side-story to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine Putin himself is rumored to own a luxury yacht less is known about the outsized carbon footprint of these lavish hulks that resemble cruise liners.
Luxury mega-yachts can burn up to 7,020 tons of CO2 a year, according to research by
Richard Wilk, a professor of anthropology at Indiana University, and his colleague Beatriz Barros, a Ph.D. candidate in anthropology. They have been Documentation the emissions of the super-rich.
They describe such vessels, which are variously equipped with helicopters, submarines, swimming pools and accommodation for up to 100 crew members, as “by far the worst asset to own from an environmental standpoint.”
Two-thirds of the billionaire carbon emissions are due to superyachts
The top 20 billionaires analyzed by Wilk and Barros emitted around 8,000 metric tonnes of CO2 annually in 2018, while average citizens worldwide had a carbon footprint of around 4 tons15 tons in the United States.
An astounding two-thirds of these super-rich emissions are created by their superyachts.
Roman Abromovich’s superyacht is unlike any other
Two of the largest yachts belong to the world’s most polluting billionaire. Abramovich’s “Eclipse,” currently moored in Turkey, is said to be the most expensive megayacht in the world. It is also responsible, around two-thirds, of Russian oil and gaz mogul’s annual carbon emissions, which were estimated at 33.859 metric tonnes in 2018. More than one-sixth of the whole island nation of Tonga. The Eclipse alone Costs around $60 millionAnnually, (55 million).
Bill Gates has around 10 times the wealth of Ambramovich with around $124 billion (versus $14 million) yet he emits around-fifth of the pollution because, the authors say, “he does not own a giant yacht” yet Gates partly makes up for it with private jets.
The 142.81 meter sail-assisted motor yacht Sailing Yacht A, owned Russian tycoon Andrey Melnichenko
These figures are “the tip of the iceberg,” write Wilk and Barros since they don’t include “embedded” carbon, which is to say all the CO2 burnt to produce the vessels. Another form of embedded carbon could be the fossil fuel money that was used to purchase luxury yachts such as the one shown above. “Sailing Yacht A,” which has been seized by Italy, belongs to Russian billionaire Andrey Igorevich Melnichenko who owns the coal company SUEK.
140-meter megayacht “Scheherazade” anchors in Turkey in 2020. Is it Vladimir Putin?
Privacy laws and data protection help shield much super-rich consumption. “Nevertheless,” say the authors, “we think our calculations are illustrative and reflect on fundamental issues of climate justice by contributing to ongoing debates over who is responsible for climate change.” Indeed, no one even seems to know who owns the 140-meter-long “Scheherazade” superyacht above. Some claims have linked it to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Earth 300 superyacht is green-tech and focuses on science, not luxury.
Megayachts don’t all have to be climate-killers. The Earth 300 will be the world’s biggest superyacht, yet it will have zero emissions and aims to unite science and exploration to confront the planet’s greatest challenge: climate change. When it launches in 2025, the vessel of 300 meters will be able to accommodate up to 400 people. Though its carbon footprint will be relatively small, it will controversially be nuclear-powered.
