by Cecelia Bolon
Humans are travelling more now than ever, and flying is expected to increase in the future. As amazing as it is to experience new places and cultures, travelling — especially flying by plane — has a substantial environmental impact. Flying from New York City to London, for example, emits about 986 kilograms (2173 pounds) of carbon dioxide (CO2) per passenger onboard. To put that number into perspective, in 56 countries across the world the average person emits less CO2 per year than that single cross-atlantic flight.
Some people are trying to fly less — or not at all, like student climate activist Greta Thunburg, who gained lots of attention for sailing to her international engagements instead of flying. But sailing isn’t feasible for most of us, so many folks are looking to offset their flight-related carbon emissions instead. Carbon offset programs let people invest in projects that balance out their carbon footprint. By calculating the cost of the carbon emissions associated with the flight, offset programs then allocate that money toward projects that reduce emissions.
What do these projects look like? There are three main criteria that offset projects must meet. First, they must facilitate additional carbon reductions from the atmosphere, which means that the emission reductions from the project wouldn’t have happened if not for the offset-funded project. Projects must also be permanent, and they must not reduce emissions in one area only to have those emissions increased elsewhere.
It seems complicated, but many airlines have a carbon offset option built in to their websites that allow customers to purchase their offsets as they purchase their flights. These offset programs should fund projects that meet the above criteria, but it’s always a good idea to check and make sure. If you aren’t confident in how your airline is using the carbon offset funds, check out Gold Standard, which is one of the most recommended carbon offsetting nonprofits. Gold Standard was founded by environmental groups including the World Wildlife Foundation, and their offsetting projects combine emission reductions with sustainable development.
The cost of purchasing carbon offsets are less than you might expect. The cost of most of the Gold Standard projects, for example, are between $10 and $19 per ton of CO2 emitted. A one-way New York City to London flight creates just shy of a ton of CO2 per person, so if you took that flight and are trying to offset your emissions through purchasing offsets on Gold Standards’ site, your offsets would cost no more than $19.
The next time you fly, try to figure out your carbon footprint. You can use a number of sites to help you do this, including myclimate.org, which allows you to calculate your carbon footprint from a number of activities (including flights!) and purchase Gold Standard-approved offsets. This interactive tool from theguardian.com lets you quantify your CO2 emissions from flying and tells you how many countries produce less per-person CO2 in a year than you did with your single flight. It’s important to note that different offset programs and carbon footprint quantifying tools come up with slightly different numbers. Do your best to travel by less carbon-intensive means if possible (trains, buses, boats, etc.), but if you fly and choose to offset your flight emissions (or any other emissions), do your homework and make sure the funds are going to vetted projects that meet the offset standards.