Taylor Swift’s regular flights to see her NFL-playing boyfriend created 138 tonnes of emissions in three months, as the superstar continues to be the world’s most carbon-emitting celebrity.

According to flight records, compiled by an Instagram account that tracks her private jet, Swift took 12 flights to see Travis Kelce, who plays for the Kansas City Chiefs.

Taylor Swift was seen cheering Travis Kelce on in Missouri and has since taken numerous private jets to see her new love interest. Photo: Getty

The CO2 emissions from these flights total 138 tonnes of carbon, meaning Swift would have to plant 2282 trees and allow them to grow for a decade to offset the total carbon released into the earth’s atmosphere.

A representative for Swift told news outlets that she had purchased double the carbon credits required for her Eras tour before it kicked off in March, justifying her personal emissions.

“The excess credits means Taylor could have accounted for more than enough to cover her latest romance springing up in the middle of her sell-out tour, with her trips to support Kelce upping her carbon emissions alongside her planned tour travels,” the representative said.

Flight emissions

The concept of using carbon credits and offsets for emissions has been heavily criticised by climate scientists and advocates, who say the practice doesn’t actually reduce the amount of emissions entering the Earth’s atmosphere.

Aeroplanes emit about 100 times more CO2 per hour than other forms of transport like buses or trains, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a celebrity of Swift’s magnitude catching public transport.

Aviation accounts for 2.5 per cent of global emissions, but Swift’s use of a private jet means that her carbon footprint is massively increased compared to a regular person.

Private jets are the most polluting form of transport a person can use, and are hard to decarbonise.

For a trip the length of London to Dubai, a private jet is 11 times more polluting than a regular, commercial aircraft, 35 times more polluting than a train and 52 times more than a bus.

In 2022, Swift was named the world’s most polluting celebrity by Yard because of her carbon emissions, but she has done little to rectify the situation in 2023.

Swift claims her carbon offsets for her Eras Tour cover private flights to see her boyfriend. Photo: Getty

Last year, Swift’s jet had an average flight time of just 80 minutes and she created more than 1194 times more carbon emissions than the average person – she even took a 36-minute flight from Missouri to Nashville.

Carbon emitting peers

Chris Butterworth, Yard’s digital sustainability director, said celebrities are a massive part of the emissions problem in the aviation industry.

“It’s easy to get lost in the dazzling lives of the rich and famous,” Butterworth said.

“Research shows a vast divide between the super-rich and the rest of us regarding flights, travel, and even general emissions.”

The American boxer has a 50-0 career record, which is double the number of flights he takes on average each month. Photo: Getty

Legendary boxer Floyd Mayweather was close to Swift in carbon emissions, amassing 7076.8 tonnes of CO2 from his private jet in 2022, 1011 times more than the average person.

He took more flights than anybody else measured by Yard, averaging an amazing 25 per month, including a 10-minute flight in Las Vegas.

Other high-emitting celebrities include Jay-Z, A-Rod, Blake Shelton, Steven Spielberg, Kim Kardashian, Mark Wahlberg, Oprah Winfrey and Travis Scott.