Following the purchase of 80,000 tons of Carbon Offsets in November, Etihad Airways is expanding its offset program in collaboration with Shell. Separately, the airline is also setting up a guest program to allow guests to purchase additional voluntary offsets.

Through its participation in Shell’s carbon credit program, Etihad will expand its offset program beyond the original Makame Savannah REDD project in Tanzania to include Peru’s Cordillera Azul National Park and Indonesia’s Katingan Mentaya Project, making Etihad’s efforts geographically diverse in the promotion of climate action.

Both the Katingan Mentaya and Cordillera Azul projects are certified by the Verified Carbon Standard and Climate, Community, and Biodiversity Standard. They deliver significant carbon dioxide reductions while providing additional benefits to the community and biodiversity and supporting the United Nations Sustainability Development Goals.

Tony Douglas, Etihad Aviation Group CEO, said, “Exactly one year ago, we committed to a sustainable future with the very real, tangible objective to be completely carbon neutral by 2050 and to reduce CO2 emissions to 50 percent of 2019 levels by 2035. Since then, the aviation industry has been completely transformed by the COVID-19 crisis, however, our commitment to sustainability has never wavered. We have since introduced and led a number of industry-leading sustainability initiatives to further drive and promote carbon neutrality, of which today’s announcement is just the latest.”