Easyjet’s carbon offsets are not a solution to airlines’ climate problem
Easyjet’s announcement that it will offset all emissions from its flights is a belated recognition that the aviation sector has a serious climate problem, sustainable transport group Transport & Environment (T&E) has said. However, European Commission research [1] has shown that the vast majority of offsets, where companies pay others to reduce their emissions while they continue polluting, do not deliver the emissions reductions promised.
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Crucially, relying on offsets diverts efforts from the world economy reaching net zero emissions by 2050 at the latest, which is required to avoid catastrophic climate change. T&E said that to cut aviation’s climate impact, we need much stronger action by governments to tax the climate impact of flying and develop clean fuels.
Andrew Murphy, aviation manager at T&E, said: “Airlines paying others so that they can go on polluting is not a solution to aviation’s climate problem. Decades of airlines’ unchecked emissions growth shows governments need to step up and regulate aviation’s climate impact by ending the sector’s tax privileges and mandating clean fuels.”
The European aviation sector is heavily undertaxed compared to other regions. Over 20 EU states don’t tax international aviation at all, and no member state taxes jet fuel.[2]
Notes to editors:
[1]