[JumpCrisscross]

> Why fly at all? Why not hold meetings over the internet like other working people?

Speaking as someone who flies for high-value meetings, I will beat the guy literally phoning it in about three times out of four solely because I expended the effort to meet in person. Partly because it's a social gesture, showing I'm willing to expend time and resources for the person [1]. Partly because we're human beings who connect better in person than virtually.

When the stakes are international relations, the CO2 impact of the flights is peanuts.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_exchange_theory

[inglor_cz]

"When the stakes are international relations"

And what are the stakes in practice?

Meetings of the G7 probably have a real impact on international relations. But in this comparison, the UN is cargo cult politics (they pretend really hard to be doing it) and Guterres' travel to Tonga a barely masked vacation at someone's else's dime.