What is carbon offsetting?

Carbon offsetting is about funding projects around the world that help reduce carbon emissions by a measurable and verifiable amount. Without the extra “carbon finance” from people or organisations offsetting their emissions, these projects would not have happened.

How does carbon offsetting actually work?

Individual carbon offset projects around the world are being set up thanks to carbon finance provided by individuals and organisations offsetting their emissions. These projects include renewable energy generation, improving energy efficiency, reducing deforestation and planting more trees. The projects our carbon offsetting partner, Carbon Footprint Ltd, support all meet the leading international carbon offsetting standards and are rigorously inspected and regularly audited to assure that they are generating the carbon reductions. Carbon credits are only issued once these carbon savings have been made and verified. These carbon credits can then be purchased and used to offset the unavoidable emissions of organisations (‘carbon offsetting’).

Carbon Footprint, our carbon offsetting partner

We have partnered with Carbon Footprint to both audit our own emissions and help us offset and improve how we opearte as a business. Also we support their UK Tree Planting + Brazil Deforestation project. More recently we have started to offer carbon offsetting as a voluntary choice to all our charter clients through every charter quotation, and to all our existing and new managed aircraft clients. Click for further detail on Carbon Footprint

We believe this is important

  • We want to make a difference
    We believe in this, we are not doing this because we have to, we are doing this because we believe we need to. We started our monitoring and internal processes more than two years ago and all our data and targets are published within our yearly Annual Report.
  • We believe business aviation can be responsible
    We believe that business aviation can operate in a much more ethical and environmentally friendly way. We are constantly monitoring available technologies and also trust our carbon offset partner to advise us on the best practice going forward.
  • We hope our clients feel the same
    We believe, as mentioned earlier that we have a responsibility to operate and perform in an environmentally responsible way. We also offer our clinets as much ratified and best practice information so they can make their own decisions.

Calculating Carbon Offsetting values

Carbon offsetting is easy and takes just 3 Steps!

STEP 1 – calculate your flight emissions
Whether our clients charter or are within our managed fleet we will calculate the emissions relevant to each flight operation.

STEP 2 – Calculate the cost in pounds relevant to each operation
Our chosen project has an associated £ value (£9.50) attributed and verified by Carbon Footprint, this will therefore attribute a cost variable to offset that flight.

STEP 3 – Support the chosen Gama Aviation project
That value is then invested (voluntarily) in our chosen, gold standard project. View the PROJECT we have chosen from the carbon offset portfolio.

Please note that whilst we offer the facility to both our charter and managed clients alike, this is a voluntary scheme. We have chosen a verified carbon offsetting partner in Carbon Footprint. We have also chosen a single, gold standard, carbon offset programme to support. We provide as much information and support to help our clients make their own decision.

What do we do ourselves

We have been reporting on our own emissions for over two years now. This data is available within our yearly annual report. We have schemes and offsetting targets across our company. Carbon Footprint are our chosen audit provider and carbon offsetting partner. For further detail in our Annual Report CLICK HERE (pages 44-47)

UK Tree Planting + Brazil Reducing Deforestation

Carbon Offsetting 1

This project coordinates planting of native British broad-leaved trees in many regions of the UK. Planting trees provides broad environmental benefits, helping provide wildlife habitat for many hundreds of years, and passing on to future generations a fascinating and highly valuable ecological heritage.

Trees also sequester (i.e. absorb) the atmospheric carbon as part of the process of photosynthesis, which enables them to grow. Through this process, carbon dioxide is converted into stored carbon, and this is why trees are sometimes referred to as ‘carbon sinks’. By taking this carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, trees clean the air, and offset our polluting lifestyles.

Aircraft charter clients

Offered to every charter client

Upon the launch of the next update to our myairops flight ops system, as a routine part of all our charter quotations, we will state the CO2 per tonne relevant to the aircraft category of the chosen aircraft (Light Jet, Super Midsize, Heavy Jet etc). Each of the aircraft categories has a ratified and certified CO2 value. These have been taken from 2019 flying data and confirmed by Carbon Footprint.

Depending on the flying duration this CO2 figure will be multiplied by the estimated flight time to determine an overall C02/tonne figure for that particular flight. We have chosen a gold standard and approved Carbon Footprint project to support. This has a £ value associated to the project. We then multiply the CO2 cost of the flight by that pound value to determine the cost to offset the flight in question.

This figure is supplied as a separate item within the charter quote and the client is given the option to offset the flight. If they choose to offset they follow a link to the Carbon Footprint portal to process the payment. Gama Aviation does not benefit in anyway from this financial transaction and the whole process is governed and operated by Carbon Footprint.

Aircraft management clients

As part of our management offering

By the conclusion of Q4 of 2021, all our existing business aviation aircraft management clients will be offered the opportunity to offset all their flying hours by following the same concept as above. The main difference being this will be calculated from actual, operational flying hours and then confirmed and invoiced to the clients specification. (monthly, quarterly, yearly). We offer the same project that Gama Aviation supports for that year as the chosen Carbon Footprint project.

All new aircraft management clients will be presented with our carbon offsetting programme within our management offer from the outset.

This will be discussed with as much importance as any other part of their management proposal. It will again be voluntary as it is not our choice. We will not benefit in any financial way through any of the carbon offsetting programmes we offer to any clients.

We will offer a 100% offset programme and an offset programme of 100%+.