The claim: WEF panelist sought to ban coffee due to CO2 after traveling in private plane, helicopter
A Jan. 29 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows conservative comedian JP Sears dressed as a disheveled newscaster purportedly reporting about the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
A video clip then shows WEF panelist Hubert Keller saying that 15 to 20 tons of CO2 are emitted with each ton of coffee produced and consumed.
“Every time we drink coffee, we are basically putting CO2 into the atmosphere,” Keller says in the clip.
Sears then bangs on the desk and says, “That gentleman, who flew in his private jet from overseas to a private jet airport in Switzerland and then took a helicopter from that airport to Davos, is morally rooted enough in his quest to reduce CO2 emissions that he was willing to take on the burden of telling the public that they can’t have coffee anymore.”
Commenters took the description as fact, criticizing the purported use of a private jet with comments including, “Yes, the word for that clown is hypocrisy!” and “But private jets r ok.”
The post was liked more than 19,000 times in a week.
More from the Fact-Check Team: How we pick and research claims | Email newsletter | Facebook page
Our rating: False
Though the post is presented as comedy, it also makes a series of factual assertions – and they’re wrong. Keller did not take a plane or a helicopter to the conference, he drove, a spokesperson said. And neither Keller nor the WEF called for a ban on coffee consumption.
Keller traveled to WEF conference by car; didn’t demand a limit on coffee consumption
Keller, a senior managing partner at Swiss banking firm Lombard Odier, was one of the speakers at the WEF’s Jan. 17 session “Putting a Price on Nature,” which focused on how businesses can better utilize natural resources.
A video of the session shows Keller talking about the carbon emissions from coffee production and consumption. But contrary to Sears’ claim, neither the WEF nor Keller demanded a limit on how much coffee people should consume – a claim USA TODAY previously debunked.
Keller also didn’t travel to the conference by plane or helicopter. Andreas Kessler, spokesperson for Lombard Odier, said Keller traveled by car since their firm is based in Geneva, Switzerland, roughly five hours away from Davos.
“There was no ‘overseas travel’ to Switzerland,” Kessler said.
Fact check: Costco has been selling emergency food kits for more than a decade
USA TODAY reached out to Sears for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Our fact-check sources:
Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or e-newspaper here.
USA TODAY is a verified signatory of the International Fact-Checking Network, which requires a demonstrated commitment to nonpartisanship, fairness and transparency. Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Meta.
