We are getting to read and know how Airlines are taking the Sustainability efforts forward in the Aviation Industry. Now, Cathay Pacific is driving the efforts with the extension of Fly Greener to its air cargo services. Fly Greener is a carbon-offset programme of the airline to tackle climate change by achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Carbon Emissions Calculator:
The new carbon emissions calculator works out the carbon emissions of shipments and the cost to offset them in few simple steps. Customers can then make a contribution to purchase carbon offsets that come from carefully selected carbon-offset projects. All selected projects are certified to ensure their carbon reductions are verified, and come with societal and developmental benefits.
Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Programme:
The carbon-offset programme follows the launch earlier this year of Cathay Pacific’s Corporate Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Programme, which brings SAF into Hong Kong International Airport for the first time in history. Corporate customers have an opportunity to reduce their carbon footprint from business travel and air cargo shipments by contributing to the use of SAF. Cathay Pacific was also among the first carriers in the world to announce a target of 10% SAF in its total fuel use by 2030.
General Manager Cargo Commercial George Edmunds said: “The carbon emissions calculator is another tool we have made available to help our customers achieve their sustainability targets to make our business and our industry more sustainable. In tandem with our promotion and development of Sustainable Aviation Fuel capabilities, the calculator will give our customers flexibility to offset their carbon emissions via a suite of accredited carbon offset projects."
Customers have already been able to estimate their potential carbon emissions by searching for flight connections with the emission calculator on cathaypacificcargo.com, but now registered customers using the website will be able to offset their shipments by air waybill (AWB) number. Users can enter five AWB numbers at a time, but can submit as many applications as required over any monthly period. The tool, which uses the latest IATA methodology, will show the volume of emissions and display the offset charge in local currency, calculated by weight, and aircraft type.
This level of detail is central to the scheme, as explained by Simon Ng, CEO of Global Logistic System (HK) Co., Ltd (GLSHK), a Cathay Pacific-owned subsidiary that designed the technology. Ng said: “Multiple factors can lead to variance in the amount of emissions generated by a booked shipment. GLSHK helped refine this system with Cathay Pacific Cargo by using a variety of data sources to calculate the emissions for a shipment including the actual flown route, aircraft type, and actual flying distance to maximise the accuracy of the offset for our customers.”
The monetary contributions go directly to fund third-party validated projects that help to offset the CO2 generated by shipments, through carbon credits bought by Cathay Pacific and passed on to customers at cost. The airline makes no profit in the carbon-offset transactions.
Initiative Supports Four Projects across the World:
The scheme currently supports four projects which bring fuel-efficient cooking stoves to families in Bangladesh, solar-powered hot water to households in India, and solar-powered cooking stoves and small biogas plants to families in the Chinese Mainland.
In the launch phase, the carbon emissions calculator will accept retrospective AWB numbers, but future iterations will see the tool built into Cathay Pacific Cargo’s digital booking and confirmation solution, Click & Ship. Customers will be able to add offsets directly to their bookings in a one-click process.
Head of Cargo Global Partnerships Chris Bowden said: “We are excited to be driving industry leadership in Asia for sustainability, and we look forward to working with our customers to promote sustainable air cargo shipments. We know that carbon-offset calculations can be complex and need to be accurate for sustainability auditing purposes. We believe that the ease and simplicity of Fly Greener and the carbon emissions calculator makes the rigour and complexity that goes into carbon emissions calculations straightforward and user-friendly, which is something our customers have been actively seeking.”
It is good to see that airlines are exploring the cargo segment in driving sustainable aviation efforts.
