Hitting Net-Zero Without Stopping Flying: Increasing Air Travelers’ Likelihood to Opt-in to Voluntary Carbon Offsetting

Voluntary carbon offset (VCO) programs give air travelers opportunities to neutralize their carbon footprint. Despite its potential, few existing studies have explained how to present VCOs that can effectively appeal to the sensibilities of travelers in different conditions. We designed three online experiments with strategies to motivate travelers to opt-in. We found travelers who receive concrete messages that emphasize specific actions are more likely to opt-in to VCOs when flying in the near future. In contrast, travelers receiving abstract messages that emphasize general initiatives are more likely to opt-in to VCOs when flying in the distant future. When travelers are allowed to choose their preferred carbon offset method, they are more likely to opt in, especially when they receive concrete messages that indicate specific actions but not general initiatives. These findings contribute to the aviation carbon offset literature and offer useful new insights for airline companies.

Exploring the Relationship Between Tourism and Concern for the Global Natural Environment: a Case Study of Wellington Residents

<p>Climate change has been a concern for well over thirty years, but there has been limited research within the field of tourism with respect to climate change. In the last few years, there have been changes in the public perception of climate change, and an increasing awareness of the importance of addressing the problems that the world may face as a result of climate change. At current, the GHG emissions attributable to tourism are in the range of 4-6% of total global emissions, and rising. People are travelling ever more frequent, and to destinations far away from their residence. The world cannot sustain these trends, and thus research is needed to identify means to change tourism behaviours and reduce the impact of tourism on the global natural environment. This study aimed to explore the relationship between concern for the environment and tourism by taking recent holiday behaviours of Wellington residents into account. 308 residents returned useable questionnaires from the household surveys which were distributed to Wellington dwellings in July and August 2009. The study took the following steps to reach its aim: Firstly, recent holiday behaviours among Wellington residents were accounted for, including participation in leisure travel, distances travelled, and transport modes and accommodation used. Minimum emissions of CO2-E emissions caused by transportation to and from the main destination on the two most recent holidays taken by the respondents were estimated. Also, factors influencing choice of destination, transportation and accommodation were explored in relation to concern for the environment. Secondly, residents' perception of the significance of impact that climate change will have on their lives was explored. It was established that most people in the sample think that climate change will affect their lives to some extent. Thirdly, frequency of participation in carbon offsetting schemes and purchase of ecolabeled tourism products was explored to contribute to the knowledge about consumer awareness and attitudes towards tourism ecolabels and carbon offsetting schemes. Awareness and consumption was found to be low among the respondents. Fourthly, the study explored people's level of concern for the global natural environment, by investigating opinions held by the respondents about tourism and climate change and the impact of their holiday behaviours. Concern was established among the respondents. Concern for the environment was then explored in relation to holiday behaviours to establish whether environmental concern had an influence on the behaviours displayed by the respondents. No such relationship was found, and it was concluded that concern for the environment does not have an influence on people's behaviours. Lastly, preferred policy options were investigated. The people in the sample preferred voluntary policy measures, however very few are currently making use of the voluntary initiatives that are available to the public. The study concludes by highlighting the fact that more strict measures are needed in order to change current behaviours, seeing as concern for the environment does not affect the tourism behaviours of the people included in the sample.</p>

Exploring the Relationship Between Tourism and Concern for the Global Natural Environment: a Case Study of Wellington Residents

<p>Climate change has been a concern for well over thirty years, but there has been limited research within the field of tourism with respect to climate change. In the last few years, there have been changes in the public perception of climate change, and an increasing awareness of the importance of addressing the problems that the world may face as a result of climate change. At current, the GHG emissions attributable to tourism are in the range of 4-6% of total global emissions, and rising. People are travelling ever more frequent, and to destinations far away from their residence. The world cannot sustain these trends, and thus research is needed to identify means to change tourism behaviours and reduce the impact of tourism on the global natural environment. This study aimed to explore the relationship between concern for the environment and tourism by taking recent holiday behaviours of Wellington residents into account. 308 residents returned useable questionnaires from the household surveys which were distributed to Wellington dwellings in July and August 2009. The study took the following steps to reach its aim: Firstly, recent holiday behaviours among Wellington residents were accounted for, including participation in leisure travel, distances travelled, and transport modes and accommodation used. Minimum emissions of CO2-E emissions caused by transportation to and from the main destination on the two most recent holidays taken by the respondents were estimated. Also, factors influencing choice of destination, transportation and accommodation were explored in relation to concern for the environment. Secondly, residents' perception of the significance of impact that climate change will have on their lives was explored. It was established that most people in the sample think that climate change will affect their lives to some extent. Thirdly, frequency of participation in carbon offsetting schemes and purchase of ecolabeled tourism products was explored to contribute to the knowledge about consumer awareness and attitudes towards tourism ecolabels and carbon offsetting schemes. Awareness and consumption was found to be low among the respondents. Fourthly, the study explored people's level of concern for the global natural environment, by investigating opinions held by the respondents about tourism and climate change and the impact of their holiday behaviours. Concern was established among the respondents. Concern for the environment was then explored in relation to holiday behaviours to establish whether environmental concern had an influence on the behaviours displayed by the respondents. No such relationship was found, and it was concluded that concern for the environment does not have an influence on people's behaviours. Lastly, preferred policy options were investigated. The people in the sample preferred voluntary policy measures, however very few are currently making use of the voluntary initiatives that are available to the public. The study concludes by highlighting the fact that more strict measures are needed in order to change current behaviours, seeing as concern for the environment does not affect the tourism behaviours of the people included in the sample.</p>

Initial Long-Term Scenarios for COVID-19’s Impact on Aviation and Implications for Climate Policy

The COVID-19 pandemic had a dramatic impact on aviation in 2020, and the industry’s future is uncertain. In this paper, we consider scenarios for recovery and ongoing demand, and discuss the implications of these scenarios for aviation emissions-related policy, including the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) and the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). Using the Aviation Integrated Model (AIM2015), a global aviation systems model, we project how long-term demand, fleet, and emissions projections might change. Depending on recovery scenario, we project cumulative aviation fuel use to 2050 might be up to 9% below that in scenarios not including the pandemic. The majority of this difference arises from reductions in relative global income levels. Around 40% of modeled scenarios project no offset requirement in either the CORSIA pilot or first phases; however, because of its more stringent emissions baseline (based on reductions from year 2004–2006 CO2, rather than constant year-2019 CO2), the EU ETS is likely to be less affected. However, if no new policies are applied and technology developments follow historical trends, year-2050 global net aviation CO2 is still likely to be well above industry goals, including the goal of carbon-neutral growth from 2019, even when the demand effects of the pandemic are accounted for.

Air Passengers’ Preferences for Aviation Voluntary Carbon Offsetting: A Co-benefits Perspective

Co-benefits are positive outcomes from voluntary carbon offsetting (VCO) programs beyond simple reduction in carbon emissions, which include biodiversity, air quality, economic, health, and educational benefits. Given the rates of aviation VCOs remain at less than 10%, this study investigated air passengers’ preferences for co-benefits as well as certification, location, and cost of VCO programs. Using discrete choice modeling, this study shows that aviation VCO programs with higher levels of co-benefits, particularly biodiversity and health benefits, are preferred by air passengers and confirms a preference for domestically based and certified VCO programs. The latent class choice model identified three classes with different preferences for VCO program attributes and demographic characteristics. The results of this study contribute to the knowledge of VCO co-benefits and imply that airlines should take note of this preference for biodiversity and health co-benefits when designing VCO programs and differentiate between market segments to increase the uptake of VCOs.

Spatially Explicit Assessment of Suitable Conditions for the Sustainable Production of Aviation Fuels in Brazil

International civil aviation strives to significantly reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and the use of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) is an alternative for such purpose. However, for an alternative fuel to be considered SAF, some conditions must be met, and production must be certified for sustainability. This paper presents an assessment of the necessary conditions for the sustainable production of these biofuels in Brazil. It is based on a geospatial publicly available database (SAFmaps) that was built with the aim of providing information to stakeholders who would be interested in the production of SAF. The geographic scope corresponds to an area that is about half of the country. The case studies reported in this paper are related to four crop-based feedstocks (eucalyptus, soybean, sugarcane, and corn), which could be used for SAF production, according to three certified routes (FT, HEFA, and ATJ) (Fischer–Tropsch, Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids and Alcohol to Jet); in total, six potential production sites were assessed. For each crop, the detailed assessment is based on estimates of suitability for biomass production, yields, and costs. The assumptions made allowed us to explicitly analyse the risk of deforestation (production could only occur with displacement of pastures) and the necessary preservation of sensitive biomes and of legally protected areas, in addition to observing the restrictive conditions imposed by CORSIA (Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation). To reduce GHG emissions, transporting biomass over long distances was assumed to be only by rail or pipeline. In addition, we address alternatives to minimise the risks associated with induced land-use change (iLUC) and to reduce impacts on the landscape. The results show that the production of SAF through the ATJ route, using ethanol produced from sugarcane and corn, requires less land. Economic assessment was outside the scope of this paper.

External Aspects of the EU ETS in Aviation in Light of CORSIA

According to International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Assembly Resolution A40-19, the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation mechanism (CORSIA) is to be the only global market-based measure (MBM) applied to CO2 emissions from international aviation. This solution has been dictated by the intention to avoid a patchwork of duplicative State or regional MBMs and to ensure that international aviation CO2 emissions should be accounted for only once. The present contribution assesses the margin of autonomy left for Emissions Trading System of the EU (EU ETS) mechanism in the light of this clause, considering its legal status and divergent interpretations. Moreover, the recent 2020 roadmap for revision of the EU ETS Directive concerning aviation, published by the European Commission, is briefly discussed.