2020-04-01_Business_Traveller_UserUpload.Net

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APRIL 2020 businesstraveller.com

until the price suits them. What they want to achieve is

saying that they are offsetting a lot of carbon emissions

but for a low price, so then people continue to fly with

themwithoutthepriceoftheflightsgoingupbut

atthesametimethinkingthattheflightis offset.It’s

importanttorealisethattherearenoglobalregulations

ofcarbonoffsettingsothereis roomtomanoeuvreon

bothcountingandemissions.Bewareofclaimsthatyour

flightwillmagicallybecomecarbonneutral.”

THEWAYFORWARD

Mostbusinesstravellerswillunderstandthetruthof

this.Butit returnsustothequestionatthestartof

ourarticle.Whatshouldwedo(otherthanchange

jobs)?TheopinionofAndrewMurphy,whoworksfor

TransportandEnvironment,a Europeanresearchand

campaigngroupforcleantransport,is clear:“Offsetting

wasinvented 20 yearsagooutofnowherebythosewho

wantedtodelayactiononclimatechange.Thelongerwe

keepit going,thelongerwelegitimisetheconceptthat

wecancontinuetopollutetheatmosphere.”

Sowhatdoeshesuggest?“Whateachindustryhasto

dois begina tailoredpathtocuttingitsownemissions.

Individualsshouldsupportandvoteforpoliticians

whoaresupportingactiononclimatechange.Keeping

climateatthetopoftheagendais moreimportantthan

buyingoffsets.Anymoneyspentoncarbonoffsetting

wouldbebettergiventocharitiesinthedeveloping

worldtohelpprotectthevulnerablewhoarebeing

affectedbyclimatechange.”

Tyersagrees.“Iftheendgoalis toalleviatehuman

sufferingfromclimatechange,thenI’ddonatedirectlyto

disasterrelief.You’dgetfarmoreforyourmoney.”

It’snotablethatwhilesomeairlineshavecomelate

totheoffsettinggame,it nowhasgonemainstream.

Nearlyeverymajorairlineofferssomewayofoffsetting.

Aswewenttopress,Finnairannounceda newinitiative

tooffer“greentickets”alongsideregularones.Details

areyettoberevealedbutit willofferpassengersthe

opportunitytopayanextrasurchargeontopofthe

ticketpriceatthetimeofbooking.Finnairwillmatch

whateversurchargethepassengeris preparedtopay,and

thiswillapplywhetherthepassengerchoosesa carbon

offsetprogrammeora proportionofthefueltobeSAF.

Fortherestofus,it is a questionofwhetherweshould

trustthemechanismsofcarbonoffsettingwhiletrying

toreduceourtravel,orinsteaddonatedirectlytothe

relevantcharities.BT

SUSTAINABILITY

GLOSSARY

CARBON CREDITS

A carbon credit is the “right”

to emit one tonne of carbon or

equivalent greenhouse gas. It will

be generated from some verified

abatement project.

CARBON COMMODITIES

The catch-all term for both

emissions allowances and

carbon offsets.

CARBON PRICE

Depends on where a project

is and the benefits in carbon

reduction it offers.

CORSIA

The Carbon Offsetting

and Reduction Scheme

for International Aviation,

proposed and championed by

ICAO (the International Civil

Aviation Organisation).

OFFSET CERTIFIERS

These organisations both certify

the projects, charging a fee, and

then may act as a broker for the

carbon emissions being offered

from the projects.

RADIATIVE FORCING

An attempt to include the impacts

of non-CO2 aircraft emissions at

high altitudes. Some calculators

allow you to factor this in by

multiplying the carbon emissions by

a recommended radiative forcing

factor of 1.891, which has been set

by the Department for Environment,

Food and Rural Affairs. Others argue

the multiplier should be higher.

VOLUNTARY OR VERIFIED

CARBON STANDARD

The VCS Standard lays out the

rules and requirements that all

projects must follow to be certified.

SANKAI/ISTOCK