Climate change - carbon offsetting
British Airways was the first airline to introduce a voluntary passenger carbon offsetting scheme in 2005 and were also the first airline to achieve the UK Governments quality of assurance.
We have made it easy for you to offset the impact of your journey when buying a ticket with us on ba.com.
Contributions are automatically calculated based on the volume of carbon dioxide your flight produces and the cost of carbon credits per tonne at the time of your booking. Payments can be made, safely and securely, via credit or debit card with all proceeds going towards certified carbon emission projects.
The money raised helps fund projects such as hydro-electric power plants and wind farms around the world that reduce the amount of carbon emitted.
These projects also have health and social benefits, so by making offset contributions you can have a positive effect on communities as well as balancing emissions from flying.
Learn more about the offsetting projects we are currently supporting or we have already supported.
Offsetting projectsMore about carbon offsetting
Click on the topics below to view more information.
How does carbon offsetting work?
The money you pay to offset the emissions from your flying is used to buy carbon credits that are registered and verified through the United Nations Kyoto Protocol.
These carbon credits balance the effect of your emissions typically by funding renewable energy and energy-efficiency schemes.
These projects are validated and audited by the United Nations to ensure they produce authentic benefits and are genuinely 'additional' activities that would not otherwise be undertaken.
For instance the electricity generated by one of our renewable energy project would have been generated in a manner that would have released great levels of greenhouse gases should our carbon offset scheme not have support the renewable energy projects development.
How is the carbon offset contribution calculated?
There are two key elements within the calculation of the carbon offset for your flights:
- volume of carbon produced
- cost of carbon credits per tonne
The amount of CO2 produced from your flight is calculated using carbon dioxide factors published by the UK Government. These factors tell us how much CO2 is produced for each kilometre travelled per passenger.
The cost of the Certified Emission Reductions and hence the price of the offset is based on the market price, which may change from time-to-time due to supply and demand and also currency exchange rates.
Morgan Stanley, who are specialists in sourcing emission reductions, will use offset contributions to fund a portfolio of projects.
Example:
London Heathrow to Bangkok
Distance = 9547km
Kg CO2 per passenger km = 0.121#
No of passengers = 2
Total CO2 = 2.004 Tonnes of CO2
Cost - £34*
London Heathrow to Barcelona
Distance = 1147km
Kg CO2 per passenger km = 0.107#
No of passengers = 2
Total CO2 = 0.298 Tonnes of CO2
Cost - £5*
#In accordance with the Government's Quality Assurance scheme this figures includes an additional 9% of the base Kg CO2 per passenger km figure to take into account indirect routings and delays.
*Prices may vary from those examples given depending on the market value of carbon.
Where does my money go?
Your money goes towards supporting projects in developing countries and typically focus on providing new sources of renewable energy and in promoting energy-efficiency schemes.
In addition to balancing your CO2, the projects we have chosen must also bring social and economic benefits to the communities in which they are based and often bring health benefits from improvements to local air quality.
Find out more about the Government's carbon offsetting Quality Assurance Scheme
British Airways became the first airline, and one of the first UK companies, to win Government approval for its carbon offsetting scheme in March 2009.
The scheme is administered by independent climate change and energy consultancy AEA on behalf of the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC). Its aim is to provide confidence and clarity to consumers to support them in identifying high quality carbon offsets.
To achieve approval British Airways has had to demonstrate the following criteria:
- Accurate calculation of emissions to be offset – BA uses figures specified by Defra
- Use of good quality carbon credits i.e. those that are Kyoto compliant
- Clear and transparent pricing of the offset
- Cancellation of carbon credits within a year of the consumer’s purchase of the offset
- Provision of information about the role of offsetting in tackling climate change and advice on how a consumer can reduce his or her carbon footprint
To find out more about the scheme visit offsetting.defra.gov.uk
