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It's an inconvenient truth for New York mayor Michael Bloomberg. 
The billionaire came to town last November to be crowned chairman of the global climate change network C40, yet managed to rack up 8 per cent of the carbon footprint of the four-day event hosting 1,679 international guests. And all because he was the only delegate that insisted on flying to town in his private jet.
Bloomberg's 16-hour flight accounted for 106,366kg of carbon dioxide - or 8.17 per cent of the total carbon output of the 2010 C40 Climate Dialogue,  according to a carbon use audit  by Reset Carbon.  
To put the figure in perspective, that's more carbon than was used to run the actual four-day international conference - including all the electricity, water and gas used at the Convention and Exhibition Centre in over 219 conference hours, and all the energy consumed at the hotels that some 450 international delegates stayed at. It also includes all the food served, waste produced and local transport used to shuttle delegates around town. 
Alternatively, it's enough carbon for the entire conference to have run for two more days and ended up with the same footprint. 
 Some 1,679 delegates from Toronto to Johannesburg to Copenhagen attended the conference to discuss climate change initiatives.
The report only accounts for one delegate arriving on the private jet. Reset Carbon said others may have been aboard the plane, but did not declare their mode of transport to the auditors. The mayor's office did not confirm how many - if any - delegates flew with Bloomberg.
On the disparity between the various guests' carbon output, Andrew Lawson,  project manager from event organiser Civic Exchange, said: 'A person coming from Hong Kong enjoys hearing a person from the US speak, so they have to take part of the US speaker's flight emissions.'
That flights take the lion's share of the carbon emissions is no surprise - international air travel accounted for 94.87 per cent of the audit. There were 670 single flights made to and from the conference.
The report recommends that there is 'a clear footprint management opportunity in converting some of that 17 per cent [of the flight footprint caused by] long-haul business-class flights to premium economy or economy class'. 
 'If all of the 406,263 passenger kilometres of flights made were moved to premium economy class, the event's flight footprint could be lowered by 8 per cent,' it said.
But the report did not mention that, with Bloomberg's 20-tonne Falcon 900EX jet  accounting for 8.61 per cent of all flights, the same reduction could have been achieved if he simply flew commercial.
'We don't and we won't insist on how people travel to the conference,'  Lawson said. 
He also noted that although many official delegates' flights were paid for in part by the organisers, 'anyone who flew on their own private jet didn't get a subsidy'.
Stu Loeser,  the mayor's press secretary, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
In the spirit of environmentalism, Bloomberg's carbon emissions are being offset - by the Hong Kong Airport Authority. It will pay about HK$10,400 to  the Suzhou  Landfill Gas Project  operated by South Pole Carbon Asset Management.  
Aside from his position as chairman of the C40 group, Bloomberg has regularly touted his support for low-carbon living.  In Hong Kong, Bloomberg rode the MTR, telling the South China Morning Post: 'I take the subway in New York every day.'
But according to a 2007 New York Times investigation, Bloomberg only gets onto the subway after an SUV has driven him 22 blocks to the nearest express station, passing two local stations on the way. This way he avoids  having to change trains.
And a New York Post analysis found that Bloomberg produces 364,000kg of carbon dioxide every year - more than 18 average Americans or 53 Europeans.
Gloria Chang Wan-ki,  campaign manager for Greenpeace, said that because the C40 dialogue was intended as a discussion and not an opportunity to sign conventions or reach enforceable decisions, Bloomberg's use of his private jet was 'definitely not' justified.
'People put high hopes and high expectations on public figures and he needs to think of the impact of his behaviour on wider society,' she said. 'Public figures really need to walk the talk.'



Bloomberg's inconvenient truth at C40