Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and action on climate change have emerged as global priorities lately. Companies have increasingly turned their attention towards sustainability and decarbonization as a key precedence, which has become a business imperative. Among those who have pledged to achieve net zero CO2 emissions targets are business aviation leaders. According to the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), a set of bold climate commitments have been announced to achieve a net zero CO2 emissions by 2050.
Taking steps that work towards managing GHG emissions firstly requires you to understand the extent of your impact. This is where GHG accounting comes in play. This entails to accurate measurement and quantification of your GHG footprint and serves as a starting point for reducing and offsetting emissions. This goes along with the saying “what gets measured gets managed”.
A GHG footprint is the measurement of your business’s gross GHG emissions from all sources, which are sub-divided into three internationally recognised categories, known as scopes.
- Scope 1: Direct emissions from operations that are owned or controlled by your company, such as Jet fuel combustion and natural gas combustion.
- Scope 2: Indirect emissions from the generation of purchased or acquired electricity, steam, heating or cooling consumed.
- Scope 3: All indirect emissions other than those included in scope 2 that occur in the value chain, including both upstream and downstream emissions. Examples include purchased goods & services, business travel, and employee commuting.
In most industries and sectors scope 3 emissions can make up over 90% of the GHG footprint. Nevertheless, when it comes to business aviation operators, scope 1 emissions account for the majority of the GHG footprint attributable to the vast amounts of jet fuel combusted. The figure below represents the GHG footprint breakdown of one of Europe’s business jet operators.
Once the GHG accounting process has been completed, the next steps to net zero would include a decarbonization plan along with carbon offsetting.
For more information on Carbon offsetting visit Azzera at https://azzera.com/
For more information on GHG Accounting visit ZenithJet at https://zenithjet.com/sustainability-services/
1 Business aviation pledges net-zero carbon by 2050 and increasing fuel efficiency as part of renewed climate commitments: NBAA — National Business Aviation Association. NBAA. (2022, March 18). Retrieved May 11, 2022, from https://nbaa.org/press-releases/business-aviation-pledges-net-zero-carbon-by-2050-and-increasing-fuel-efficiency-as-part-of-renewed-climate-commitments/
