According to Eron Bloomgarden, most regular passengers are already familiar with the concept of offsetting their travel-related carbon emissions and National forest credits.
At checkout, you are given the option of offsetting your portion of the flight’s emissions by participating in an emission-reduction program, such as planting trees.
Such programmers are optional and have proven popular among customers. However, they have also courted controversy.
Air travel remains the most carbon-intensive mode of transport. Offsetting efforts have been criticised for diverting focus away from industry-wide carbon reductions, and with no regulations governing what constitutes a’real’ offset, customers are left wondering whether their checkout purchases are making a difference.
CORSIA
However, change is on the way. In 2016, ICAO adopted the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation, or CORSIA, which will ensure carbon-neutral industry growth beginning in 2021.
Airlines with flights that originate or land in a participating country must decarbonise faster or purchase credits for emissions reductions elsewhere.
Only the best credits that meet a specific set of standards are considered. Airlines thus contribute to global emissions reductions on a large scale while developing solutions (aircraft efficiency, low-carbon jet fuel, electric airplanes, etc.) to decarbonize the future.
COVID affected plans in several other areas, as well. Over the summer, the 36 countries on the ICAO Council relaxed airlines’ requirement to offset their emissions growth until at least 2023.
The Council also agreed that the baseline against which emissions will be assessed would be 2019 emissions rather than the average of 2019 and 2020 emissions, as was originally intended.
Despite this, airlines from 88 nations, accounting for about 80% of international air travel, have joined the CORSIA’s initial phase. And airlines will still be required to acquire up to 2.5 billion tons of carbon credits by 2035, providing a massive pool of funds to address climate change.
IOAC Council
Because of the magnitude of this future demand and the CORSIA’s stringent requirements, it’s no wonder that people who watch carbon markets pay particular attention to whose credits are allowed into the scheme.
Until recently, the CORSIA did not accept any credits created by forest protection, despite the fact that global forest loss accounts for nearly 20% of the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide.
However, this changed in November when the ICAO Council approved two techniques that earn carbon credits from reduced deforestation, but only for ‘jurisdictional-scale’ initiatives.
The resolution recognizes that protecting and restoring tropical forests can provide up to one-third of the climate action required over the next decade, but only with large-scale private sector financing.
A “jurisdictional-scale” forest protection program is one that is led by the government and operates across the country. Only by working over millions, rather than thousands, of hectares and using the tools available to governments can we ensure that emissions reductions are genuine and deforestation is not moved elsewhere.
Investments
Even well-designed and effective investments in local, small-scale forest conservation projects are insufficient to halt deforestation.
To have the desired impact, tropical forest preservation must take place at the national level, working with governments and politicians who, with the correct financing and incentives, can commit to comprehensive national- or state-level forest protection projects.
From a practical standpoint, large-scale forest protection programs are the only way to earn the billions of credits required to meet demand from the airline industry and other sectors.
And air travelers worry about rainforests. Protecting tropical forests is critical for pandemic prevention. The public is emotionally moved by cherished ecosystems such as the Amazon rainforest and orangutan habitat in Southeast Asia.
The CORSIA decision implies that airlines and their passengers can contribute to these deeply emotional endeavors rather than simply offering customers the opportunity to plant a few trees here and there.
Travellers will also be reassured that the scheme produces immediate and tangible advantages, as opposed to young trees, which can take decades to provide their full climate benefits.
Conclusion
National forest credits benefit the aviation sector. However, we still confront a tremendous challenge. To yet, government-led attempts have been limited by uncertainty over whether there is enough demand to compensate for the enormous upfront financial and political capital required to get such initiatives off the ground.