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EasyJet has announced its plans to become the world’s first major airline to operate a carbon neutral network.
Starting today, the European carrier will operate net-zero flights. This means it will offset all of the carbon emissions made by the fuel from its flights by supporting several eco-led schemes, including forestry, renewable and community based projects.
Johan Lundgren, easyJet’s CEO, said in a statement: “Climate change is an issue for all of us. At easyJet we are tackling this challenge head on by choosing to offset the carbon emissions from the fuel used for all of our flights starting today. In doing so we are committing to operating net-zero carbon flights across our network – a world first by any major airline.
“We acknowledge that offsetting is only an interim measure until other technologies become available to radically reduce the carbon emissions of flying, but we want to take action on carbon now.”
The airline says it will support the development of hybrid and electric planes and work with others across the industry to ‘reinvent and de-carbonise aviation over the long-term’. To show this commitment, easyJet has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Airbus for a joint research project on hybrid and electric aircrafts.
Jonathon Porritt, Co-Founder of Forum for the Future, said in a statement: “Carbon offsetting can only be a bridge to future technological developments, and it will be important to seek out each and every way of reducing carbon emissions. Beyond that, the whole industry needs to come together more effectively to decarbonise this critical sector just as quickly as possible.”
While easyJet is the first major airline to commit to carbon offsetting, IAG – the parent company to British Airways – announced in October it would be carbon neutral by 2050 and would start offsetting all domestic flights next year. German airline Lufthansa launched Compensaid, its carbon offsetting platform, in August which allows travellers to track and offset their individual carbon footprint.
It’s not just airlines moving towards more sustainable practices. To celebrate its 25th birthday last week Eurostar announced several new eco-practices. It launched its first plastic-free train and will commit to planting a tree for every train service that operates across its routes from January 2020.
