Nicola Sturgeon clocks up enough air miles to travel to SPACE...despite declaring 'climate emergency'

Nicola Sturgeon has amassed enough air miles since 2016 to travel to space.

The First Minister has flown 110,833 miles in just six years, nearly the same amount as flying halfway to the Moon which is 239,000 miles from Earth.

The figures were released under a Freedom of Information request and showed that the majority of the journeys were inside the UK.

The most frequent trips were between Scotland and London, Cardiff, Bristol and Manchester.

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Speaking in 2019, Sturgeon declared that there was a “climate emergency”, asserting that Scotland would “live up to our responsibility to tackle it” and “lead by example”.

Since making the statement though, she has travelled close to 30,000 air miles.

110,833 air miles emits around 25 metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and is equivalent to the annual energy use of 2,300 homes.

The figures include the period of 2020 until 2021 when global travel grinder to a halt as a result of the pandemic, meaning Sturgeon’s travel was dramatically lower than normal.

The figures also do not include the 5,000 mile return trip to Egypt last year for the COP27 summit.

Previously, responding to criticism of her jet setting habits, the Scottish Government said: “International engagement plays a vital role in the economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and Scotland's net zero transition, and is even more necessary to reduce the damage caused by the UK Government's hard Brexit.”

Earlier this month, the First Minister said the energy crisis highlighted a need to accelerate the UK’s transition to net zero.

She said: “We must set Scotland on the path to an energy system that meets the challenges of becoming a net-zero nation by 2045, that supplies safe, secure and affordable energy for all and that generates economic opportunity through a just transition.”