Johnson shared an image of him getting off a plane in Cornwall on Wednesday, with a message that said he would talk to fellow leaders about beating the pandemic and "building back better, fairer and greener."
I’ve arrived in Cornwall for this year’s @G7 where I’ll be asking my fellow leaders to rise to the challenge of beating the pandemic and building back better, fairer and greener.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) June 9, 2021
It will be a busy and important Summit, and I can’t wait to get started.#G7UK pic.twitter.com/H4VSQ2SCD6
The UK government said on its website that a plane trip created five times more emissions than the equivalent train journey. The Labour Party’s shadow environment secretary, Luke Pollard, called Johnson’s choice of transport "plane stupid."
"If you attack my arrival by plane, I respectfully point out that the UK is actually in the lead in developing sustainable aviation fuel. One of the points in the 10-point plan of our green industrial revolution is to get to jet zero as well as net zero," Johnson said, as quoted by Sky News.
UK, US, Canadian, French, German, Italian and Japanese leaders will be meeting in Cornwall, some 400 kilometers (250 miles) away from London, from Friday through Sunday. Australia, India, South Korea and South Africa have been invited as guest countries.