This morning I was alerted by a LastMinute.com newsletter of an organisation I’ve been meaning to look up for a while. They are called "Climate Care" (www.climatecare.org) and they allow you to calculate the impact your activities have on carbon emissions into the environment. They also identify and fund environmental projects in developing countries to offset these emissions.
Of particular interest to me are the calculators on the site for offsetting flight emissions. Having just been on honeymoon in South East Asia I have been feeling guilty about the effect on the environment of our travel (but not so guilty as to have arranged our honeymoon in Bognor Regis instead). They didn’t have all the flights on there, but as a rought estimate it turns out I had the following impact:
| Your Carbon Profile | Tonnes CO2 | Value | |
| 1 | Flight (Quatar) | 2.89 | £ 21.70 |
| 2 | Flight (Bangkok) | 2.90 | £ 21.79 |
| 3 | Flight (Vietnam) | 0.46 | £ 3.49 |
The Bangkok to Vietnam leg actually included stopping in Cambodia but Siem Reap airport wasn’t listed. Likewise, Koh Samui airport wasn’t listed so that’s missed off entirely.
A word of warning: Climate Care is not a charity. It is a company who "pay a fixed royalty of 10% of annual turnover to Climate Care Ltd – a separate company that has provided the Trust with financial and management resources over the years" (taken from here).
It’s a shame this isn’t a tax efficient mechanism (e.g. Gift Aid for charities) for offsetting carbon costs. I’ll do some more research before going with this organisation and let you know what I find.
