Naturalist Chris Packham has urged Taylor Swift to think of the “future of all of her young fans” as he called on her to stop travelling by private jet.
The pop superstar, who will take to the stage at Wembley Stadium on Friday as she brings her Eras Tour to London, has been travelling by private plane to all the stops on her world tour.
On Thursday, Just Stop Oil activists sprayed orange paint over private jets at Stansted airport on the airfield where they believed Swift’s plane landed hours before.
Just Stop Oil activists targeted a number of private jets at London's Stansted Airport just hours after Taylor Swift's plane landed there.
Chris Packham tells @kategarraway and @adilray that he has contacted Taylor Swift over her use of private jets and has asked her to 'think… pic.twitter.com/EriqFuKQu3
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) June 21, 2024
Essex Police later said the pop star’s private jet was not at the airport.
Speaking on Good Morning Britain on Friday, TV presenter Packham said: “I’ve asked her to think about the future of all of her young fans.
“(She has an) enormous capacity to communicate. A very powerful, intelligent, young woman.
“She should be using that platform to lead and certainly not behaving as a rockstar of yesteryear travelling around the world in private jets.
“And I think that she’s got to show that legion of adoring young fans that she cares about their future.”
He said: “Maybe one day, I don’t know, Taylor might want children of her own. I’m sure that she wants a healthy, happy planet for them to live on.
“And in order to do that, we’ve got to change the way we use our fossil fuels and she could send a very symbolic gesture to millions of people by saying that she was going to stop using those jets.”
Packham said Swift has not responded to his request but that he has offered her the chance to send a message, which they could play at the Restore Nature Now march this weekend.
More than 300 charities, businesses and direct-action groups will take part in the rally to send a message to Westminster to make nature and climate a higher priority in this General Election campaign and the next parliament.
“I have offered her the opportunity to send a video message which we could play to our rally on Saturday to perhaps 50, 60, 70 100,000 people who would instantly become Taylor Swift fans even though they may be over 15,” Packham added.
The US superstar has already played shows in Edinburgh, Liverpool and Cardiff and arrives at Wembley Stadium amid a frenzy of fan excitement.
British and Irish fans have waited more than a year for the show to arrive, since Swift kicked off her marathon string of dates in Glendale, Arizona, in March 2023.
Swift will play three nights at Wembley Stadium on Friday, Saturday and Sunday before taking the tour to Dublin next week.
She will return to London for five more shows in August.