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Superyachts are the ultimate status symbol for royal families, oligarchs and billionaires from Jeff Bezos to Bernard Arnault. The floating palaces are a source of fascination and secrecy \u2014\u00a0and greenhouse gas emissions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The planet-warming pollution caused by luxury vessels that benefit the very few has led lifestyle social scientist\u00a0Gregory Salle to dub them a form of \u201cecocide\u201d and \u201cconspicuous seclusion\u201d in his new book,\u00a0Superyachts: Luxury, Tranquility and Ecocide.<\/p>\n
There are almost 6,000 superyachts \u2014 that is, vessels over 30 meters (100 feet)\u00a0 \u2014 at sea, according to a report earlier this year by media and market intelligence company SuperYacht Times. The total has quadrupled in the past three decades.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard to think about a sign of wealth that is more convincing than that if you possess a superyacht,\u201d said Salle, who is a professor at France\u2019s University of Lille.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The concentration of wealth hasn\u2019t just led to the superyacht explosion. It\u2019s also led to a split in per-capita emissions, with the most well-off living the highest carbon lifestyles.<\/p>\n
The world\u2019s wealthiest 10% already account for half of the world\u2019s carbon dioxide emissions, according to Oxfam research. The nonprofit found that it would take 1,500 years for someone in the bottom 99% to emit as much carbon as one of the world\u2019s top billionaires. The ultra rich\u2019s emissions come from a variety of sources, including large homes and frequent jet travel. But superyachts are their single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, according to a 2021 study.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The annual\u00a0CO2 emissions of the top 300 superyachts is almost 285,000 tons, according to Salle\u2019s book, an amount\u00a0more than the entire nation of Tonga.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Superyachts\u00a0are also more than climate polluters. Wastewater, noise and\u00a0light pollution, particulate matter in exhaust, and even where the vessels dock can have an adverse effect on the local environment. Those outsize impacts add up to why Salle has dubbed the vessels a form of ecocide.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The term \u2014 which was coined in the 1970s \u2014 refers to the willful destruction of nature and has often been used to describe the actions of the wealthy given their outsize carbon footprint. In 2021, lawyers proposed codifying ecocide into international criminal law, putting it on par with genocide. European Union lawmakers voted to criminalize environmental damage \u201ccomparable to ecocide\u201d earlier this year. Whether the new law will be used to prosecute the use of superyachts remains to be seen.<\/p>\n
Some owners are cognizant of the dangers their vessels pose to the environment. Jeff Bezos\u2019s\u00a0$500 million superyacht Koru set sail in April 2023 with sails to help power its voyage. It still sports diesel-powered motors, though. Oxfam estimates that the 127-meter (416-foot) vessel has emitted 7,000 tons of carbon dioxide over the past year, an amount equal to the annual emissions of 445 average Americans.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That estimate is also almost certainly on the low end as the calculations account for the yacht being on standby rather than in transit. The number also doesn\u2019t include Koru\u2019s companion yacht, Abeona, a 75-meter support motor yacht that functions like a garage with a helicopter pad and jet skis.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The sails on Bezos\u2019s ship are an exception: The vast majority of superyachts are solely engine-powered. Only eight new sailing builds were completed in 2023, compared to the 195 new motor yachts.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Understanding a superyacht\u2019s true carbon emissions is incredibly difficult because of a lack of data collected and the inherently secretive nature of yachting, according to Malcolm Jacotine, founder of the superyacht consultancy firm Three Sixty Marine. Using the International Maritime Organization\u2019s data, Jacotine estimates yachting emissions will hit 10 million tons by 2030 if the industry takes a \u201cbusiness as usual\u201d approach.\u00a0<\/p>\n
To help owners understand their boats\u2019 impact, he\u2019s developed two carbon emissions calculators. They have limitations, though, because they rely on voluntarily reported data and estimated tons of diesel fuel.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yachts spend 10% to 20% of the year sailing and relying on engine power. The boats reach top speed only 0.1% of the year, according to Robert van Tol, executive director of the Water Revolution Foundation. The rest of the year, the vessel is a floating hotel, relying on generators that are required for a longer period of time and emit more CO2, according to Jacotine\u2019s calculations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Still, emissions data is done on a boat-by-boat basis, and one yacht may travel more than another in a year, making the traveling emissions higher, according to Oxfam researchers. Yachts are exempt from International Marine Organization emission rules, so true emissions of any boat are difficult to discern. That reflects how superyachts are both ostentatious and somewhat unknowable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSuperyachts are made to be noticed,\u201d Salle said. \u201cBut [they] are also vehicles that are really secretive in the sense that you can\u2019t access the inside if you are not invited.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
New builds are focusing less on engines reaching top speeds and more on saving energy in hotel mode. But sustainability may not be at the forefront of purchasing decisions.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not a totally rational decision to buy a yacht,\u201d said Ralph Dazert, head of intelligence at the media and market insight company SuperYacht Times. \u201cIt\u2019s quite an emotional thing because it costs you an absolute fortune.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
In 2023, the total value of yachts sold totaled \u20ac4.6 billion ($4.9 billion), according to Dazert. He said the movement towards sustainability will be largely driven by shipyards and engineers adding features to new builds, including using recycled materials. New types of fuel could also cut emissions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This year, Italian shipbuilder Sanlorenzo will test the first 50-meter steel yacht powered by hydrogen fuel cells, and another 114-meter yacht from German shipmaker L\u00fcrssen with the same technology is in production for 2025 for Apple Inc.\u2019s former watch developer Marc Newson.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the larger the build, the longer the wait time. That means some of these features will take years to appear on the high seas, according to Jacotine.<\/p>\n
In a bid to clean up superyachts\u2019 image, some owners are making theirs available for research and exploration. That includes a new 195-meter yacht owned by a Norwegian billionaire Kjell Inge Rokke, which is set to launch in 2026 with over 50 scientists to study the ocean. (It\u2019s also available for custom cruises.)\u00a0<\/p>\n
While public scrutiny is mounting, superyachting is a client-driven industry. And for most buyers, luxury still trumps climate concerns. Salle noted that like many upscale items, superyachts aren\u2019t just products. They\u2019re representative of a \u201clifestyle,\u201d one that right now is intimately tied to carbon-intensive activities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEcocide is something that causes deep harm, harm that is lasting over time,\u201d Salle said. \u201cYou could apply this to what [superyachts] are doing, not just individual \u2026 but global.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n