Reducing airline's climate impact

Airlines can differentiate themselves, and consumers can select airlines, based on a number of ethical issues. For example, consumers might express their displeasure for a country by boycotting its national airline. This article confines itself to the issue of climate change. Potential air travellers might respond to the issue of climate change by travelling less and/or by using other modes of transport which are perceived as being more efficient (such as rail). This article further confines itself to the steps being taken by some airlines to offer services that are more ‘climate friendly’ and the response of consumers to those services.

Three approaches to climate change

Air travel is suspected of contributing significantly to climate change through a number of mechanisms (not just greenhouse gas emissions). Individual airlines and air travellers are currently utilizing/exploring three approaches to reduce their impact on climate:

• Carbon offsetting: Paying others to achieve a counterbalancing effect on climate through activities outside the air transport sector. Note that the effectiveness of carbon offsetting is criticised.
• Reducing air travel’s consumption of fossil fuels (air travel’s contribution to well-mixed greenhouse gases is completely dominated by the emission of carbon dioxide from burning fossil-derived aviation fuels^[1],[2]). Two ways in which this can be done are:
  • Improve fuel efficiency.
  • Use a biofuel: This has some effect only if the biofuel has lower full-life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions.

Carbon offsetting

Independent of airline

Carbon offsetting organizations emerged into the mainstream in the latter half of the 1990s^[3]. Today there are a large number of such organizations that passengers can use to offset a flight. Their products differ in method used to determine impact on climate, method used to offset impact on climate, price, and so on. Kollmuss and Bowell have compiled a review of the organizations and their products^[4]. In recent years, the quantity of offsets sold has grown rapidly but the fraction of flights that are offset in this way remains negligible^[5] (and this is despite the fact that the cost of an offset is typically of order only 1% of the cost of an airfare^[6]).

Through airline

Voluntary participation

Airlines can offer carbon offsets to their passengers (if a passenger wishes, they can pay the airline an additional charge to offset their flight --- the airline uses the money to purchase offsets for the flight from a carbon offsetting organization). In 2005, British Airways became the first major airline to start offering carbon offsets to its passengers. Initially it gave its offset program almost no visibility, resulting in almost no patronage. This was later criticised by the British government. Since then a significant number of airlines have started offset programs and airlines have begun to market their programs much more aggressively. In 2007, Delta became the first US carrier to commenceJetStar became the first airline to offer

British Airways was the first major airline to offer carbon offsets to its passengers (the passenger voluntarily pays an additional charge which the airline forwards to a carbon offsetting organization to pay for an appropriate carbon offset).

It is now reasonably common for airlines to provide their passengers with the option of making their flight ‘carbon neutral’ (Airlines initially appear to have been reluctant to do this. For example, British Airways became the first major airline to do it By partnering with a carbon offsetting organization, airlines can offer carbon offsets directly to their passengers. Airlines initially appear to have been reluctant to do this. To give an example, British Airways

Airlines appear to have initially been very cautious at the prospect appear to have approached the possibility of offering carbon offsets with caution

Mandatory participation

^[7]

References