The Labour Mayor of Bristol Marvin Rees, who was the first city mayor brave enough to declare a climate crisis in the UK, has fulfilled his moral duty to save the planet by hopping on a nine hour flight to Canada and lecturing his fellow political leaders on the dangers of pumping carbon into the atmosphere. Appearing as a speaker at the TED climate conference, Rees’ spokesperson said he was there “to share ideas and help change attitudes” on climate policies. Presumably “use Zoom more often” wasn’t one of those ideas…

Climate campaigners are already claiming Rees’ flight pumped out 2.016 tonnes of CO2 per passenger, travelling over 4,600 miles each way to tell everyone to stop using so much carbon. Apparently he had to be there in person because he had “a full agenda”:

“[Rees] has been clear – the fight against climate change will be won or lost in cities, which generate three-quarters of global carbon emissions. And it is therefore the duty of city leaders to come together… the mayor’s visit to Vancouver was not just to deliver the talk. He had a full agenda…At the conference he was able to network with other influential speakers, sharing Bristol’s story and challenges with the aim of attracting future funding and inward investment.”

To be fair to Rees, he’s got to take advantage of all these flashy trips while he can; his own city voted to abolish the mayoralty earlier this month. Two more years and he’s out of a job. Bristol’s own extinction rebellion…