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Carbon Offsetting – Guilt-Free Flying or a Complete Cop-Out?
Go Low investigates how offsetting works and whether it's helping or hindering the climate crisis.
Anna Shah
Carbon Offsetting – Guilt-Free Flying or a Complete Cop-Out?: Text
Carbon Offsetting – Guilt-Free Flying or a Complete Cop-Out?: Image
Carbon offsetting may be something you’ve come across whilst planning you’re travels – but is it worth it? The celebrity endorsements are numerous, from Coldplay to Harry and Meghan and many airlines now allow you to buy carbon credits alongside plane tickets; yet many of us remain sceptical.
With the increasing demand for commercial flights, highlighted in Heathrow’s plans to build a third runway, now more than ever something needs to be done to reduce the environmental impact of flying. So, is carbon offsetting the remedy to the world’s rising flying addiction?
When you purchase “carbon credits”, the money you spend is used to fund projects designed to remove the equivalent amount of greenhouse gases (unlike the name suggests it’s not only carbon dioxide) from the atmosphere. This is done through investing in environmental projects that reduce future greenhouse gas emissions or building sinks to store gases that have already been emitted. From planting trees, giving communities clean water access or capturing the methane released from landfill; there are loads of projects to choose from.
Carbon Offsetting – Guilt-Free Flying or a Complete Cop-Out?: Text
Carbon Offsetting – Guilt-Free Flying or a Complete Cop-Out?: Image
Carbon credits are not just for flights, they can be bought to offset any activity. For example, the University of the West of England (UWE) are raising money to plant “A Forest the Size of UWE” to offset the University’s entire emissions. “Nature based solutions are not high tech, yet they are the most cost-effective way to address climate change and wellbeing,” says Wendy Stephenson, CEO of The Converging World, a Bristol based charity partnering with UWE on this project.
And carbon offsetting is undeniably a cost-effective way of reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. One carbon credit can cost anywhere between £10 and £30 depending on the project and equals a reduction of 1 ton of carbon dioxide. A return flight from London to New York has a carbon footprint of 1.66 tonnes, so for as much as checking-in an extra bag, you can completely offset your personal flight emissions.
The obvious issue is how people can use offsetting to alleviate their emissions guilt without making any effort to reduce their individual carbon footprint. As convenient as carbon offsetting seems, we will not meet the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (the IPCC) target for global emissions by offsetting alone. Offsetting, when combined with individual carbon footprint reductions, like driving less, reducing waste and eating less meat, can be a powerful weapon in our fight against climate change.
And it’s not just the planet that will benefit, when run responsibly, local communities also stand to benefit from offsetting projects. Carbon Fund run several energy efficient projects including the Kenya Burn Stoves projects where communities are provided with energy efficient cookstoves. These replace inefficient, fossil-fuel powered stoves which produce indoor air pollution leading to chronic respiratory diseases. The project has improved health in the community, as well as reducing emissions from cookstoves and cutting fuel costs for families.
Most airlines take advantage of offsetting to make their company seem greener than they actually are. By advertising how environmentally friendly they are for offsetting, ticket sales rise which ultimately increases the demand for flights. As we know offsetting doesn’t reduce carbon levels, it just balances them, so is the environment really benefiting when flight demand increases? This is a common phenomenon called “green-washing” which many companies partake in, but once you’re aware of it, it becomes much easier to spot.
Does carbon offsetting sounds like something you want to explore further? A good place to start is Gold Standard, an internationally-recognised benchmark for carbon offsetting which helps you find projects that are worth investing in.
If you do end up needing to fly during your travels, as well as offsetting the emissions, choosing to fly on a budget airline and flying economy class are other things you can do to minimise your flight emissions.
The important thing to remember when dabbling in the carbon offsetting world is that it’s not a cure-all but rather something to use when all other avenues are exhausted - when taking that flight is unavoidable.
Carbon Offsetting – Guilt-Free Flying or a Complete Cop-Out?: Text
How do offsetting projects work?
Reforestation
Trees are planted in forestland for future carbon sequestration. The trees and the soil they’re planted in take in carbon dioxide to grow and make food, reducing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere.
Avoided deforestation
By preventing trees from being cut down they can continue to sequester carbon and reduce atmospheric greenhouse gas levels.
Capturing landfill gas
Landfill sites release methane, a greenhouse gas. The methane is captured and used to produce electricity. This reduces greenhouse gas emissions directly and avoids emissions from burning fossil fuels for electricity.
Renewable energy
Renewable energy is generated from building and maintaining wind farms, solar power plants and hydropower plants.
Clean water access
Providing clean water access to communities who need it displaces the need for firewood to boil water. This reduces deforestation and carbon emissions from fires.
Carbon Offsetting – Guilt-Free Flying or a Complete Cop-Out?: Image
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