Europe’s leading airlines are misleading consumers with claims that they can fly guilt-free by using carbon offsets to neutralize the environmental impact of air travel, according to a new report by the nonprofit Carbon Market Watch.
A temporary dip during the Covid-19 pandemic aside, airline emissions have been steadily rising for the past two decades and, left unchecked, could potentially triple by 2050. Globally, the industry generates roughly one billion tons of CO2 per year — comparable to the emissions of Japan, the world’s third-largest economy.