. Tackling our carbon emissions
We also made another significant announcement today. You will have seen and heard me talk about the fact that sustainability and climate change have shot up the agenda around Europe. They are topics that our people and customers care deeply about and an area where we have an opportunity to make a big difference.
So, I’m proud to announce that starting today, we will operate net zero carbon flights across our whole network. We’ll be doing this by offsetting the carbon emissions from the fuel used for all of our flights. In fact, we think this probably makes us the single biggest buyer of carbon offsets made on a voluntary basis, anywhere in the world.
We will do our carbon offsetting only through schemes which have been accredited by two of the highest verification standards, Gold Standard and VCS. We will have a number of different offset projects which are a mixture of forests, renewable energy and ones that a make a big difference for local communities through either providing cook stoves or creating boreholes for clean water. We’re the world’s first major airline to take the bold step of operating net-zero carbon flights across our whole network, because we believe it’s the right thing to do. It’s also part of Our Promise to be a safe and responsible airline and we’re encouraging other airlines to do the same so that aviation around the world moves towards becoming net-zero carbon.
We know that carbon offsetting isn’t perfect and it is only an interim measure, but it means we can tackle the amount of carbon we emit right now. But very importantly we need to continue to reduce our carbon emissions and support the development of new technologies – including hybrid and electric planes - so we can reinvent aviation as quickly as we can.
We’ve shared details before of the work we’re doing with Wright Electric to produce an all-electric ‘easyJet sized’ plane for short haul flights. Today, I am delighted to announce that we will also be working with Airbus on a project to jointly research how electric hybrid planes could be introduced for short haul flying in Europe.
We’ll also be looking for more ways to take action beyond carbon by rapidly reducing our waste and single-use plastic usage. We’ve already made some simple but really effective changes. For example, we’ve replaced plastic drink stirrers with wooden ones, we now offer discounts for customers who bring their own reusable cup and, this month we are replacing the plastic cup we give customers to put their used tea bags in with a little bowl which is made of bagasse, the fibre that is left over after sugar cane has been processed.
I’m really proud of the steps we have taken so far and of the leading position we are now taking to help tackle this hugely important global issue – I hope you are too.
