RESPONSIBLE TRAVELLER

What to expect om some of the world’s major carriers A GUIDE TO

Most airlines now o er you the chance to voluntarily o set your ight. Some carriers o er this at the time of booking, while many give you the choice of doing so separately. Although the principle of o setting is simple, the more you look into it, the more complicated it can become. Here’s a round-up of what some airlines are currently o ering.

QATAR AIRWAYS

Qatar Airways launched its voluntary carbon o set programme at the end of 2020 a er partnering with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and Climate Care. All contributions received through the programme are directed via Climate Care to the Fatanpur Wind Farm project in India.

Passengers can voluntarily o set the carbon emissions associated with their journey at the point of booking, with information available in multiple languages including Arabic, Chinese (classic), Chinese (traditional), Croatian, Czech, English, Farsi, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, ai, Turkish, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese. e programme is built on a partnership with IATA’s carbon o set programme which “provides the assurance that the credits bought to o set these emissions are from projects delivering independently veri ed

AIRLINE CARBON OFFSET PROGRAMMES

carbon reductions as well as wider environmental and social bene ts”. e Fatanpur Wind Farm project in India has installed wind turbine generators (WTGs) with a combined output of 108 MW to generate and supply clean electricity to the Indian National Grid. e project comprises 54 wind turbines, installed in and around the villages of Taluk Dewas, Tonkkhurd and Tarana Taluk in the Dewas and Ujjain districts of Madhya Pradesh. e turbines displace electricity generated from fossil fuel sources from the Indian grid, reducing the overall carbon intensity and leading to emissions reductions. is project avoids 210,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually, although this year there have been exceptionally low wind speeds across India, with operator Vena Energy measuring a record low wind speed in July 2020, representing a 40 per cent decline compared to its expectations.

IATA’s Carbon O set Programme has been approved by the independent audit organisation Quality Assurance Standard (QAS), which assesses how organisations calculate emissions, select o set projects and how they communicate this information to their customers. IATA is one of only four organisations worldwide to meet this standard.

As an example of the cost of using the o set feature on Qatar Airways, Business Traveller made a test booking from London Heathrow to Kuala Lumpur via Doha in Business Class. e cost of the o set was £14.00 (US$19.40).

ETIHAD AIRWAYS

Etihad Airways is increasing its purchase of carbon o sets, while at the same time, moving ahead with a programme that will allow passengers to purchase additional o sets for their ights. e airline purchased 80,000 tonnes of carbon o sets in November, but the new purchase, which is through Shell, expands the programme beyond the original Makame Savannah REDD project in Tanzania to include Peru’s Cordillera Azul National Park and Indonesia’s Katingan Mentaya Project. e Katingan Mentaya project protects 149,800 hectares of peat swamp forest and vital habitats for ve critically endangered species, including Bornean orangutans, southern Bornean gibbons and proboscis monkeys.

By 2021, the Cordillera Azul project in Peru aims to have protected 1.6 million hectares of threatened forest and 28 high conservation value species,

ABOVE: Qatar Airways launched a voluntary carbon o set programme last year TOP: Etihad’s o set programme helps to protect Bornean proboscis monkeys supported 716 jobs and created or supported 25 sustainable enterprises.

Both projects are certi ed by the Veri ed Carbon Standard and the Climate, Community, and Biodiversity Standard.

Etihad has purchased the o sets through Shell, which has launched a platform to trade REDD+ forestry credits. REDD stands for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation and the + signi es the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks.

Shell has committed to invest US$300 million in nature-based solutions – projects that protect, transform or restore land – over the next three years. In this way, nature absorbs more CO2 emissions from the atmosphere. ese projects can lead to the marketing, trading and sale of carbon credits.

Etihad Airways is also working

INDEPENDENT SITES

There are dozens, if not hundreds, of sites that will o set your emissions, for travel, for your household and for your purchases.

The list here is not comprehensive and it does not recommend these organisations. Note that there is a strong argument that donating directly to charities, which help those a ected by climate change, is the best way to spend your money.

You should also ask how much money is going towards the project. trees4travel, for instance, says that of the money donated for an o set, 67 per cent is for tree planting and distribution, 18 per cent is for development and income and 15 per cent is for overheads. Bulb: works out your carbon footprint including your gas, electricity, what you buy and how much of it. Compensaid: a sophisticated calculator that also o ers the chance to o set your travel by purchasing SAF – which is very expensive, but much closer to the true price of our travels. Fly Green: an online booking engine that o sets the flights you buy through it using part of its commission. myclimate: this calculator also o ers the chance to work out your complete carbon footprint, or just your travel footprint. Trees4travel: is a dedicated travel o set site.

with New Zealand Carbon O setting company Carbon Click, “a platform that uses certi ed Gold Standard o sets to reduce the climate impact of aviation through ethical, fully traceable reforestation and renewable energy projects”, to develop a customer carbon o set programme, but a launch date is yet to be revealed.

AIR FRANCE

Air France has o set its domestic ights since the beginning of 2020. It also o ers passengers the chance to o set ights, both domestic and details, including the class you are ying in, select your preferred project (or all three of the ones on o er) and then pay for the o set.

Given Pure Leapfrog is a not-forpro t o setting service, there is a minimum o set charge of £1 ($1.38) to ensure admin costs are covered.

TOP RIGHT: Lufthansa launched its carbon o set programme with Compensaid RIGHT: British Airways o ers o sets through a partnership with Pure Leap Frog international, in partnership with A Tree for You, through the Tree and Trip programme. e emissions calculator does not have options for specifying the cabin you are ying in, and the payment for o setting is on the separate Trip and Tree site. It leaves it up to you to decide how much to donate, rather than using the emissions calculator to suggest an amount.

BRITISH AIRWAYS

British Airways o ers o sets through a partnership with Pure Leap Frog. e emissions calculator is separate from the booking procedure, though there is the intention to integrate it in future. Instead, you go to the home page of the Pure Leapfrog British Airways page and enter your ight

LUFTHANSA

Lu hansa launched its voluntary carbon o set programme in a partnership with Compensaid, an independent o setting site (Swiss has done the same). e advantage of this approach is that it allows for a more nuanced and sophisticated approach to o setting. e CO2 calculator provided by the climate protection organisation, myclimate, helps you to calculate your journey’s carbon footprint with the result based on the fuel consumption of the Lu hansa eet.

Compensaid then o ers “two options for o setting: through the use of CO2-neutral, synthetic jet fuel and through reforestation projects. With the purchase of innovative sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), the emissions can be captured immediately as SAF causes up to 80 per cent less CO2 in comparison to conventional jet fuel. Reforestation projects, in contrast, capture the CO2 resulting from ights over a longer period”.

WORDS GEMMA GREENWOOD

LEADING BY EXAMPLE

UAE businesses are the most CSR active in MENA, a new report reveals

The UAE has emerged as a regional leader in awareness and the adoption of corporate social responsibility practices, the rst annual MENA CSR Survey Report 2020 has revealed. e study by Cicero & Bernay Public Relations (C&B), in partnership with YouGov, found 82 per cent of UAE respondents ranked the UAE as the most active country in CSR, while 80 per cent of UAE decision-makers had positively changed their perception of CSR during COVID-19. In addition, nine out of 10 UAE executives acknowledged the impact of CSR. From a regional perspective, 62 per cent of respondents across the GCC and Levant said they were well-informed of CSR. e C&B YouGov report was designed speci cally to identify the importance of CSR across select countries in the GCC, Levant and North Africa — with the UAE, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Egypt headlining the results.

In total, 219 C-suite executives and corporate leaders across the MENA region were surveyed. ey hailed from countries including the UAE, the KSA, Egypt, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco and were hand-picked due to their position and contribution to their respective sectors, including government, aviation, automotive, banking and nance, construction and real estate, healthcare and transport. e respondents were asked a series of CSR-related questions that were revisited in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic to gauge perception.

“ e ndings of this report reveal the UAE has made a signi cant and leading contribution in ensuring the vitality of CSR, which has thus far played a crucial role during a pandemic that continues to impact every individual, company and sector on a global scale,” said Ahmad Itani, Founder and CEO of C&B and Chairman of PRCA MENA.

According to Stephan Shakespeare, CEO of YouGov, the report aimed to inspire companies to keep CSR as part of their plans.

“Our research indicates that corporate social responsibility is becoming embedded in corporate culture and the workforce,” he said. “Senior decision-makers in these markets have a good knowledge and understanding of CSR, especially those in the UAE. It is clear that many C-Suite leaders believe it shapes the trust in companies, with many saying they personally will not buy a product that is not socially responsible.”

Shakespeare added: “Due to the pandemic, governments across the globe will now be held more accountable for the safety of their citizens, and economic downturns will test authorities’ actions, compassion and support for their people. Hence, CSR will be listed as a priority on the agenda of public companies and governments.”

A er the pandemic hit, e ectively changing the way businesses operated, additional questions were added to the survey.

Respondents were asked how the spread of COVID-19 had a ected their corporate social responsibility e orts or their budgets across the MENA region. e ndings revealed most executives had a positive sentiment towards CSR, with 46 per cent stating they would scale up their CSR activities in 2021. “We believe in the importance of implementing CSR by entities across di erent sectors, and we are proud that companies and individuals in the UAE are working towards achieving the objectives of the UAE National Program for Happiness and Wellbeing,” said Itani.

“ e survey’s ndings are testament to the growing trust between brands and consumers, and we encourage companies to follow suit, sustain and nurture these relationships moving forward in support of their employees, communities, and the nation as a whole.”

KEY REPORT FINDINGS

82%

of UAE respondents ranked the UAE as the most active country in CSR

62%

of respondents across the GCC and Levant are well-informed of CSR

60%

would not collaborate with companies that are not socially responsible

1 in 5

executives said companies with CSR plans appealed to job seekers

80%

of UAE decision-makers positively changed their perception of CSR during COVID-19