While the phrase "going green" at hotels and conference centers has become popular among meeting planners, the air above these facilities continues to be filled with airplane pollutants, as attendees are shuttled to and fro. Now, responding to a growing public demand for environmentally sensitive policies and individual responsibility, numerous airlines are entering the field with their own efforts to reduce their substantial carbon footprints. To cite a few:
Delta Air Lines has partnered with The Conservation Fund, a nonprofit environmental group, with travelers funding tree plantings to offset the carbon emissions generated by its airplanes. Passengers who elect to participate would pay $5.50 extra for a domestic flight, $11 for one overseas.
Continental has partnered with Sustainable Travel International, another nonprofit offsetting organization, to fundagain with travelers' voluntary contributions"high-impact sustainable development projects."
Virgin Atlantic charges passengers a higher fee if they fly first-class, with flight attendants soliciting donations in the cabin after travelers board. Like the others, the fee is voluntary, and goes to support "clean" energy plants in India and Indonesia.
"The industry has taken hold of this because of the really shocking waste that can come out of a three-day meeting," says Alan Ranzer, executive director of Impact 4 Good, an eco-friendly team-building company based in East Hanover, NJ. "And the airlines are thinking there is a bottom-line return to this move."
Silverjet, a British carrier, is the only airline that automatically includes carbon-offset fees in every ticket sold, allowing passengers to opt-out if they choose. Industry-wide, only about seven percent of passengers voluntarily opt-in to pay the fee, but if the contribution is already imposed, "80 percent to 90 percent will stay in," says James Thomas, CEO of Vancouver, British Columbia-based Offsetters, of Silverjet's opt-out plan.
Harbour Air, the world's largest seaplane operation based in British Columbia, is the only carrier to impose mandatory carbon-offsetting fees on its passengers with no opt-out provision. Another Offsetters client, Canadian low-fare carrier WestJet, makes a corporate carbon-offset contribution of two percent for each of its passengers.
A Pressing Need
The need to do something for the environment is palpable. While the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says aviation contributes just two percent of the world's CO2 emissions, airplane emissions are increasing by about three percent every year.
The airlines calculate the contributions in essentially the same way, estimating fuel burned and emissions produced per passenger, over distance traveled. For example, Virgin Atlantic's website calculator pegs an economy flight from New York to London as producing 1.258 tons of CO2; for this, the voluntary offsetting fee comes to $24.30.
Monies go to different projects, depending on the offsetting organizations the carriers partner with. For example, the British company Climate Care funnels collected fees from its partner, British Airways, to such projects as renewable power generation for schools in India, and restoring rain forests in Uganda. Scandinavian Airlines partners with British firm The CarbonNeutral Company to direct money to such things as wind-energy projects in New Zealand, China, and India.
Delta, in contrast, is working with a U.S. group called The Conservation Fund, which specializes in planting forests which the company says help absorb carbon dioxide, filter water, restore wildlife habitat, and enhance public recreation areas.
In addition to its partnership with Delta, The Conservation Fund is receiving an increasing number of inquiries directly from groups.
"Corporations are coming to us saying they'd like to sell this as part of a package of sponsorship," says Jena Thompson, executive director of The Conservation Fund's Go Zero program, which oversees the initiatives. Here, postcards are placed in attendees' meeting packets making note of the sponsor's donation. She's also seen conference organizers themselves include a fee for every attendee and exhibitor, essentially making for a mandatory carbon-offset contribution for an entire meeting.
Even the booking engines are getting involved, allowing any airline reservation to have a carbon-offsetting component. Expedia.com has teamed up with TerraPass to offer carbon offsets connected with flight purchases, with a flight of about 2,200 miles being charged $6.75. Travelocity is working with The Conservation Fund to offer the voluntary carbon-offset fee for air, hotel, and rental car purchases.
Every Little Bit
So far these programs haven't made a huge difference, perhaps because of their voluntary nature. For example, after two years British Airways has managed to offset a bare 3,000 tons of CO2, or less than one-tenth of one percent of its emissions in that time. Perhaps because of this weak showing, not all airlines have a carbon-footprint offsetting program.
"We believe that the most judicious path to environmental sustainability is to make our environmental footprint as small as possible before offsetting the rest," says Tim Wagner, spokesperson for American Airlines. But he added, "We do continue to evaluate offsetting plans."
But every little bit helps, says The Conservation Fund's Thompson.
"It's an awareness of behavior, that everyone produces CO2, and of the small things you can do to make a difference," she says.
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Carrier: British Airways
Program: Voluntary donation varying by destination.
Other Details: For example, the offsetting fee for London-to-South Africa flight is $27.
Carrier: Continental Airlines
Program: Voluntary passenger contribution to Sustainable Travel International
Other Details: Travelers can choose to donate to programs that include a Kyoto Protocol-verified renewable energy project, reforestation efforts, and wind farms.
Carrier: Delta Air Lines
Program: Voluntary passenger fee of $5.50 for domestic roundtrip, $11 for international trip.
Other Details: Monies donated to The Conservation Fund. Delta will plant a tree for each of its 47,000 employees.
Carrier: Harbour Air
Program: Inclusion of carbon-offset fee in ticket price. Invests with Offsetters Climate Neutral Society
Other Details: Largest seaplane operation globally, this British Columbia-based carrier is the only airline to make carbon offset fees mandatory: No opt-in, no opt-out.
Carrier: Qantas Airways
Program: Voluntary passenger fee, based on estimate of flight's emissions. Sample: $44 for Sydney to London flight
Other Details: Australia-based Qantas pledges to plant 90,000 eucalyptus trees to publicize program.
Carrier: SAS Group (includes Scandinavian Airlines, Blue1, and Spanair)
Program: Voluntary fee based on point of origin/destination. Typically about $5 for trip from Scandinavia to Europe.
Other Details: Passengers can pick from various sustainable projects, like renewable energy.
Carrier: Silverjet
Program: Fee included with each ticket sold, passengers can opt-out if they choose.
Other Details: Passengers have option of where to invest contributed monies with climate-friendly projects globally.
Carrier: Virgin Atlantic
Program: Voluntary fee, with travelers paying sliding scale depending on class of travel and destination.
Other Details: Passengers can opt-in while on the plane. Monies benefit green energy-producing projects in India and Indonesia.
Carrier: Virgin Blue
Program: Voluntary passenger fee, beginning at $1 per ticket.
Other Details: Australia-based low-fare carrier will invest in passenger-specified projects that neutralize or avoid emissions and save energy.
Carrier: WestJet
Program: Voluntary donation. Carrier invests fee with Offsetters Climate Neutral Society.
Other Details: Canadian low-fare carrier offers 2-percent carbon-offset of tickets purchased through www.offsetters.ca, at no charge to passengers.
Originally published January 01, 2008
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