Private aviation company VistaJet has committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2025 in a program that will include carbon offsetting for its customers, the company said April 27.
The move means the airline aims to achieve carbon neutrality 25 years before the wider aviation industry's intended date to reduce emissions by only 50%."The industry as a whole must step up to combat climate change and its impact today -- it's the right thing to do, and we all have to act now," VistaJet founder and chairman Thomas Flohr said.
"Our model itself is the most effective in focusing on utilization and a shared fleet concept; and adoption of more sustainable aviation fuels, and smarter, more economic aircraft," he said in a statement.
In 2020, over 80% of VistaJet members offset CO2 emissions relative to their flights' fuel consumption in partnership with South Pole, a global project developer and provider of climate action solutions, the company said.
"By offering its clients a means to compensate for the impact of their footprint, VistaJet is supporting an industrywide push for a greener recovery and channeling important finance to projects that help reduce emissions and improve livelihoods today," it said.
Global investmentsThe company has invested in carbon offsetting projects including a forest protection program at Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe, which reduces CO2 emissions by 3 million mt per year on average. The project is registered under the Verified Carbon Standard and the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standard.
Other projects include a tropical forest conservation program in the Brazilian Amazon region that reduces 1,259,000 mt CO2 per year, also registered under the VCS and CCBS.
The company has also invested in a wind farm project in Taiwan, which reduces an average of 635,000 mt CO2 per year, registered under the Gold Standard.
The company supports high-quality emissions reduction projects that hold additional environmental and social certifications, it said.
VistaJet has also partnered with Sustainable Aviation Fuel provider SkyNRG to be the first to provide global access to SAF for business aviation, it said.
The company's goal to be carbon neutral by 2025 includes Scope 1 (direct) and Scope 2 and 3 (indirect) emissions, it said.
Coronavirus effectsGlobal demand for offsets from the aviation sector has been lower than expected after the coronavirus lockdowns grounded much of the industry in 2020.
Airline demand, however, is expected to rebound as economies recover, and airlines are required to offset any CO2 emissions above a 2019 baseline under the United Nations Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation, in a voluntary pilot phase running 2021-2023.
Even as vaccine rollouts offer support for an economic recovery in many countries, a severe resurgence of the virus in India has tempered sentiment on a global demand recovery.
CORSIA-eligible carbon (CEC) credit prices rose as high as $2.34/mt in March, compared with 80 cents/mt in January, when S&P Global Platts launched a daily price assessment.
CEC prices were pegged at $1.99/mt at the close April 27, down 16 cents/mt from April 26, according to Platts assessments.
