(TAN): Etihad Airways has committed to purchasing carbon offsets to completely neutralise the CO2 emissions of its flagship “Greenliner” 787-10 aircraft for a full year of operations in 2021, the airline said.
The initiative is the start of the airline’s journey to reduce CO2 emissions to 50% of 2019 levels by 2035, and to achieve full net zero emissions by 2050 – a first for any airline in the Gulf and one of the first to set a target of this scale in the industry. Tthe airline will also implement an additional voluntary offset programme for passengers via its website in 2021.
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Etihad’s Greenliner carbon offset programme has been sourced in partnership with Respira, an international carbon offset finance house specialising in tailored offset schemes across multiple sectors. Etihad’s plan is centred on a Tanzanian forestry project and will initially purchase 80,000 tonnes of CO2 offsets.
Tony Douglas, Etihad Aviation Group CEO, said: “While the year brought many challenges, sustainability has remained at the top of our agenda, and the work hasn’t stopped. Expect to see more ground-breaking initiatives in 2021 as we learn the environmental lessons from initiatives with our Greenliner fleet and other sustainability initiatives.”
The launch of the Greenliner carbon offset programme complements Etihad’s ongoing work to develop and test Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs), with the goal of making them commercially viable for widespread adoption by the industry.
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Alejandro Rios-Galvan, chairman of the Sustainable Bioenergy Research Consortium at Khalifa University of Science and Technology, who advises Etihad on a range of sustainability issues, said: “This is a great start for Etihad’s zero carbon journey using a well-respected offset standard that is fully compliant with the best sustainability practices out there. We look forward to continue supporting Etihad on their long-term sustainability strategy.”
