THEY are the green jetsetters — environmental campaigners who are leading the fight to restrict aviation and cut greenhouse gas emissions, but who also clock up hundreds of thousands of miles flying around the world on business and pleasure.

In the past year the directors and chief executives of groups such as WWF, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and the Soil Association have crisscrossed the globe, visiting the Falklands, Japan, Africa and Brazil.

All are running high-profile campaigns to persuade people to change their lifestyles and cut emissions of carbon dioxide.

George Monbiot, a leading environmentalist, said this weekend he was “very disappointed — especially if they are flying on holiday”. Heat, Monbiot’s new book on climate change, warns of disastrous temperature rises unless western countries cut carbon emissions by 90% by 2030, meaning a virtual end to flying.

Among those with the highest air miles is Bob Napier, chief executive of WWF, formerly the World Wildlife Fund, one of the best-known environment groups. In the past 12 months he has visited Spitsbergen, Borneo, Washington, Geneva, and Beijing on business trips and taken a holiday in the Falklands, generating more than 11 tons of carbon dioxide. A typical British household creates about six tons of CO2 a year.

Tony Juniper, director of Friends of the Earth, flew to Malaysia, South Africa, and Amsterdam on business and took his family on holiday to Slovakia in the past year. This weekend he is on a business trip to Nigeria. His trips are estimated to have generated at least eight tons of CO2.

“This is the dilemma faced by all international organisations, including green ones,” said Juniper. “We do all we can to cut travel but we need to do some flying to make decisions.”

Aviation generates about 5% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions but their warming effect is up to four times greater at high altitudes.

Graham Wynne, chief executive of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, says he was acutely aware of such issues when he made business trips to Indonesia, Washington and Scotland over the past year, clocking up more than five tons of CO2. He also takes occasional holidays to New Zealand.

Next month the RSPB will bus hundreds of supporters to a rally in Trafalgar Square against climate change.“There are a lot of contradictions like these which organisations like ours have to solve,” said Wynne.

Other “green” leaders share such concerns. All of those interviewed had imposed “green” measures on their families and organisations, including encouraging staff to walk to work, installing low-energy light bulbs and insulating their homes.

Patrick Holden, director of the Soil Association, who has flown this year to Japan, America (twice) and four European destinations, generating about six tons of CO2, said: “I am deeply concerned about my flying. I am campaigning for a solution but I am still part of the problem.”

Such conflicts are also found in Greenpeace, which recently helped organise a runway blockade at Nottingham East Midlands airport. John Sauven, the group’s campaigns director, has flown his family on holiday to Italy and taken a business trip to the Amazon rainforest in Brazil (total emissions, three tons).

Ministers and staff at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), which is leading government efforts on climate change, have also shown a fondness for flying. New figures show Defra spent £1.8m on airline travel in the past financial year — five times more than the year before.

Like many green groups, the government “offsets” the CO2 emitted by paying a premium on the basic air fare. This is used to fund projects that cut emissions in developing countries.

Offsetting is, however, increasingly seen as flawed. Sir John Harman, chairman of the Environment Agency, whose business trips to Germany and Vienna and holidays in Croatia and Cyprus suggest total CO2 emissions of more than 1½ tons, said: “We offset, but you have to be very careful. Some schemes are run by snake oil salesmen. There needs to be an audit.”

Ashok Sinha, director of Stop Climate Chaos, a coalition of more than 30 groups, which is organising the London rally on November 4, flew to India on holiday and to Montreal on a business trip (emissions, 3.3 tons).

“I did buy offsets but they give people the idea they need not change their behaviour,” he said. “The real answer is that people must stop flying.”

A YouGov survey to be published tomorrow will show 3% of people have already stopped flying and another 10% have cut down because of concerns about climate change.

Caroline Lucas, the Green party MEP, has warned that unless airlines lose their “right to pollute at will”, climate change will not be halted. She has previously made clear all her holidays are in Britain but on Friday was on a business flight to India (emissions: almost two tons) and unavailable for comment.

Monbiot, who has not flown for more than a year, said: “If even the leaders of the green movement are not prepared to live without flying for pleasure then how can we expect that of other people?”

• Carbon dioxide emissions calculated via Climate Care (www.climatecare.org)

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