NADA FARHOUD: 'Katy Perry could've urged climate action but helped billionaire's vanity project'

"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" is the phrase that has become synonymous with the Apollo 11 mission and Neil Armstrong's first steps on the moon.

Back in 1969 the green movement was only just starting with Greenpeace founded in the same year in Canada and Friends of the Earth a few years later. The focus was the race to the Moon, and spurred significant advancements in technology. Environmental considerations were low down the pecking order. But they can be forgiven. Scientists then were unaware of the full damage western industrialisation had done to the planet and how our reliance on fossil fuels were soon going to wreck havoc with our seasons, weather and nature.

Fast forward to 2025 and everyday we are faced with headlines that highlight how much global heating is fuelling more intense storms, floods, heatwaves and wildfires.

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Record global temperatures are being smashed repeatedly as we hurtle towards 1.5C of warming.

When Katy Perry and her fellow female passengers started their descent back to Earth, she started to sing What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong.

Back down on Earth, she talked about taking care of the planet and appreciating it.

Lauren Sanchez, the fiancee of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, went further saying: “Protect this planet we're on, this is the only one we've got.” Ironically they didn’t mention the damage being caused.

It would have been so much more powerful for these women to have used their platforms to call for much needed climate action, rather than take part in a billionaire's vanity project.

Rocket engine exhaust contains gases and particles that can affect Earth's climate and ozone layer.

On its website, under the title "Protecting our Planet", Blue Origin claims: "During flight, the only byproduct of New Shepard's engine combustion is water vapour with no carbon emissions."

But Eloise Marais, a professor of Atmospheric Chemistry and Air Quality at University College London points out that water vapour too is a greenhouse gas and is a chemical that is not supposed to be in the upper layers of the atmosphere.

"It alters the chemistry of the stratosphere, depleting the ozone layer, and also forms clouds that affect climate," she says.

Experts say that as more and more rockets are launched, the risks of harming the ozone layer increases.

Human space travel does have the potential to help in tackling issues like climate change.

At COP26 in Glasgow, Astronaut Tim Peake said: "I personally am a fan of using space for science and for the benefit of everybody back on Earth, so in that respect, I feel disappointed that space is being tarred with that brush."

But it is space science and missions undertaken by professional astronauts that will benefit humankind, not tourism conducted by celebrities.