A carbon footprint is defined by the emissions of greenhouse gases associated with any specific activity or transaction. The carbon footprint of aviation is primarily made of CO2 emissions. Due to the wide range of activities involved and the fuel required, commercial aviation has a carbon footprint accounting for at least 2% of global human-induced CO2 emissions. Due to the constraints of current aircraft technology, all commercial flying today has an unavoidable carbon footprint.

Carbon offsetting is a climate action that enables individuals and organizations to address the CO2 emissions they cannot avoid by supporting projects - like clean-energy producing wind farms or forestry projects - that verifiably reduce, capture, or avoid a proportional amount of CO2 emissions. Said another way, carbon offsetting enables travellers to balance the carbon emissions released as a result of their travelling.

Flight calculations are calculated as a result of fuel burn, passenger load, cargo load, and an adjustment to account for adverse climate impact beyond carbon dioxide (such as nitrous gas and formation of contrails).

The calculations are performed at various precision levels:

• By-distance uses emission factors from the UK Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).
• By-route is based on the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) route average emissions.
• The flight number is the most precise, applying specific fuel burn and passenger and cargo load factors for your flight (in line with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) methodology.

When individuals and organizations offset their carbon footprints, the funds paid contribute to projects that reduce, capture, or avoid GHG emissions in an amount equivalent to that of their calculated carbon footprint. Offsetting provides a critical source of financing for these projects. A detailed overview of the climate solutions supported through this program is available here.

The price you see represents the total cost to deliver the carbon offset service. All of the funds collected, excluding taxes and the fees charged by CHOOOSE on each transaction, are applied directly to carbon offsets sourced from certified projects. For each transaction, a small administrative and technology fee is charged and received by CHOOOSE™. The administrative and technology fee is EUR 0.29 per passenger per flight, and this contributes to cover CHOOOSE’s running costs.

In order for a climate project to receive certification from a credible carbon certification body, it must demonstrate "additionality." Additionality means that the GHG emissions reduction, avoidance or removal associated with that particular project would not have taken place in the absence of the project and that the project would not have been financially feasible without the generation and sale of carbon credits.

All carbon offsets available on this platform have had the additionality criteria case checked by both an independent third-party verifier and the respective carbon certification body at project inception.