Bill Gates recently celebrated his 66th birthday lavishly in Turkey, with fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos. But the celebration was criticized by netizens for being a waste of energy ahead of the COP26 climate change conference.
Gates' party was held at Sea Me Beach in Fethiye, Turkey last Wednesday (27/10). About 50 guests, including Bezos, were invited to the party and all invited guests were flown from the superyacht 'Lana' that Gates rented to the party location by helicopter.
After the party ended, Bezos also flew by helicopter to his yacht 'Flying Fox' which was docked in Gökova Bay. Because the chosen mode of transportation is very energy-intensive, Gates and Bezos were quipped by netizens.
"More of people will be nagging us again next week about -- climate change," said Twitter user @rdcarrington, as quoted by the Observer, Tuesday (2/11/2021).
"Energy waster Bill Gates made his contribution to CO2 reduction on his 66th birthday by transporting his chubby body on his own yacht and then by helicopter somewhere," said netizen @erlesen.
The yacht Lana chartered by Gates is one of the most luxurious superyachts in the world. The rental fee reaches 1.8 million Euros (Rp 29.5 billion) per week.
It reaches 107 meters in length and can accommodate 12 guests. The complementary facilities in it are certainly very luxurious, such as a gym, jacuzzi, beach club, to a swimming pool.
Meanwhile, the Flying Fox cruise ship has a larger size of 136 meters. This ship has 12 cabins and a 12 meter long swimming pool. But it is not known whether this ship is actually owned by Bezos or just a charter ship.
Due to their jumbo size, luxury cruise ships such as the Lana or Flying Fox are estimated to have carbon dioxide emissions of 7,000 tonnes per year or 19 tonnes per day, according to Fast Company data.
With emissions of that magnitude, traveling by cruise ship is certainly not an environmentally friendly form of transportation. This is considered inversely proportional to Gates' commitment, which in recent years has continued to issue warnings about the dangers of climate change.
Gates himself will speak at the COP26 conference about the important role innovation plays in addressing the impacts of climate change. The conference, which is held every five years, brings together delegates from around the world to discuss their plans to reduce emissions and limit climate change.
