Do airlines cheat their customers when offsetting emissions?
According to a recent study, numerous airlines are not keeping their sustainability promises. The airlines would therefore deceive their customers, especially when it comes to offsetting emissions. The backgrounds.
In recent years, many airlines have discovered the topic of sustainability for themselves. Customers were given the opportunity to offset the emissions caused by their booked flights for a fee. This fee should flow into climate protection projects and above all ensure a clear conscience – so the theory.
But regardless of whether airlines or passengers offset flights: Unfortunately, the result is often sobering. Because loud a recent study, the offsetting of emissions by the major European airlines has almost no positive impact on the environment and the issue of sustainability. The money often ends up in the completely wrong place.
Emission compensation: Many airlines have a sustainability problem
Meanwhile, as part of the study, companies EasyJet, Ryanair, Lufthansa, British Airways, Air France, KLM, Wizz Air and Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) were examined. Almost all airlines invested in climate projects, but they had little or no impact on our planet.
It was only at SAS that no precise statement could be made, as the company shows little transparency when it comes to offsetting emissions. But why do the selected projects hardly have any effect?
The quality of climate protection projects can be measured on a scale. However, the measures with a low quality are often the cheapest and have only questionable effects. Meanwhile, high-quality projects have a significantly higher impact, but are also significantly more expensive.
Airlines often rely on low-cost compensation
According to the study, however, most airlines invest primarily in measures with a very low level of quality. For example, there are projects that contribute to reforestation in areas in Africa in order to remove emissions from the environment. However, there is no subsequent control in the regions.
A direct cutting down or burning then turns the successes into a zero-sum game. The aim of the aviation industry is to offset all emissions from the by 2050. However, this would require significantly more effective measures. It is also worth taking a look at the efficiency of the aircraft. Because where there are no emissions, none have to be offset.
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