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BFF-24
FRANCE-AVIATION-ENVIRONMENT-AIRFRANCE
Air France to offset daily CO2 emissions by next year
PARIS, Oct 1, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – French carrier Air France will offset the
carbon dioxide emissions of its 500-odd daily internal flights by 2020 at a
cost of millions of euros, the company’s CEO has announced.
In a bid to counteract its climate impact, the company will finance
projects that support tree planting, forest protection and the global shift
to less polluting energy, Anne Rigail told Le Parisien newspaper.
“It is an investment of several million euros, she said in an interview
published late Monday, adding the company was acting “voluntarily”.
Other projects would include banning single-use plastics such as cutlery
from local flights as from January, and “to start separating and recycling
waste” from October.
The airline industry has been under fire over its carbon emissions, which
at 285 grammes of CO2 emitted per kilometre travelled by each passenger, far
exceed all other modes of transport, according to the European Environment
Agency.
Heavy duty transportation — freight trucking, shipping and aviation —
represent over a tenth of global greenhouse gas emissions, says the World
Resources Institute, a research body.
The emissions contribute to global warming and climate change, which
scientists say will unleash ever harsher droughts, superstorms, and sea-level
rise.
In July, France announced it would impose new taxes on plane tickets of
between 1.50 and 18 euros per flight — a move criticised by Air France.
It is meant to raise about 180 million euros a year to be invested in
greener transport infrastructure.
Rigail said she did not know if there had been a drop in passenger numbers
due to a campaign of “flight shaming” (flygskam) spearheaded by 16-year-old
schoolgirl Greta Thunberg, who has become a symbol of the fight against
climate change.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1410 hrs