Is Buying Carbon Offsets for Flights a Scam? Here’s What To Do Instead.

What if you could cancel out your carbon footprint when traveling?

According to airlines, you can. While they work on creating more sustainable fuel and reaching net zero emissions, air carriers are offloading the burden and moral responsibility of making up for carbon emissions to passengers. Many airlines allow passengers to buy carbon offsets, where you pay a few dollars and breathe a sigh of relief because now you’re “canceling out” the emissions from your flight.

But carbon offset schemes may not have the positive effect you think they do. Read on to understand more about carbon offsets, if they really work, and what you can do instead to reduce your carbon footprint when traveling.

Do Airline Carbon Offsets Work?

For example, American Airlines (in partnership with Cool Effect) uses carbon offset money to plant trees in Mexico, improve cookstoves in Honduras, and introduce better waste management in Brazil. Air Canada (working with Chooose), says carbon offset money goes to reforest the Peruvian Amazon and support clean energy in India.

However, it’s hard to calculate exactly how or if carbon offsets work. The carbon offset system is deeply flawed and, in most cases, isn’t actually offsetting your carbon footprint.

Issues With Offset Programs

Many carbon offset credit programs are vague, and you never really know how your carbon offset dollars are being spent. In 2023, an investigation into Verra, one of the world’s leading certifiers of carbon offsets, found that more than 90% of their standard offset credits didn’t actually represent real carbon reductions, as reported by the Guardian.

Airlines take a lot of leeway with their branding related to carbon offsets, which can give consumers inaccurate information (a form of greenwashing). German courts recently banned Lufthansa from using misleading statements regarding CO2 emissions that offer the impression that air travel is (or can be) climate-neutral).

News sources in Australia have also reported fraud in NIHT Inc., an organization that offered carbon credits and allegedly used them to support reforestation in Papua New Guinea but was actually doing commercial logging instead. While not all organizations commit fraud, it’s tough to know how your carbon offset dollars are being used and what they’re really supporting, especially if organizations are working internationally (programs and their results are more difficult to track or hold accountable abroad).

And even if the program itself isn’t flawed, nature-based carbon offset schemes can be volatile. A single climate disaster, like a forest burning or a village flooding from a hurricane, can ruin offset attempts.

Putting a Price on Emissions

It’s hard to put a price on emissions. For example, using Freeflight.org’s calculator, I estimated that on a round-trip flight from Atlanta (ATL) to Los Angeles (LAX), each passenger would emit 1.1 metric tons of carbon dioxide.

But how much is that, really? Airlines claim to do the calculations, but the math doesn’t always add up — the cost you pay for your carbon offset doesn’t always cover the damage. According to data from Anthesis, approximately 1 metric ton of CO2 is equivalent to the electricity consumption of 0.65 average households for a year, taking 72 high-speed train trips of 300 miles each, or driving a gas-powered car for 5,000 miles. Visually, it’s equivalent to 500 CO2 fire extinguishers or the equivalent of melting 36.5 square feet of Arctic sea ice. And to erase this amount of CO2, you’d have to eat a vegan diet for 6 months or have 50 trees growing for a year.

Do you think your $20 carbon offset donation pays for 50 trees growing for a year? Even if the entire amount of your carbon offset fee really did end up in the right hands of the right organizations (with the entire fee dedicated to those trees) it feels unlikely that this amount of money would be enough to truly offset your flight. Ryanair claims that a donation of €2 (approximately $2.15) to support environmental projects is “the equivalent of compensating 50% of emissions based on our average route distance and fuel burn.” You can think about the math, but when you work out the calculations, carbon offsets are a crummy Band-Aid for a much larger issue in almost all cases.

Social Costs of Carbon

Let’s not forget about the social costs of carbon, which can indicate how much society should be willing to give up to avoid climate change. The cost per ton (according to the former Biden administration) is $51, though the current administration may lower that number. Still, whatever you’re likely paying in carbon emissions for your flights isn’t quite enough.

Status Quo Doesn’t Equal Reduction

Air travel accounts for more than 2.5% of global emissions, and the International Energy Agency says the industry is not on track to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

Even if carbon offsets were to fully and truly offset the impact of your flight, we’re still only at the status quo, maintaining and not reducing carbon emissions. Efforts should focus on reducing carbon emissions in the first place, not course-correcting or making up for them.

What You Can Do To Reduce Your Carbon Footprint When Flying

Of course, flying less is the easiest answer to this dilemma, but it’s certainly not the most practical or feasible answer. If you’re anything like us and can’t fathom giving up flying, there are still things you can do to reduce your carbon footprint, which is more significant than offsetting it anyway.

Fly in a Lower Class

We all love a business or first-class flight, and our website is dedicated to helping you use points and miles to get a more premium flying experience. That said, your carbon footprint is higher when flying in a higher class. Using the roundtrip ATL-LAX example above, here’s a list of the average amounts of carbon you’re emitting per class:

• Economy: 1.1 metric ton
• Premium economy: 1.6 metric ton
• Business or first: Between 4.6 and 7.1 metric tons

While flying private isn’t a luxury the masses typically can’t afford, it is becoming more accessible. However, flying private increases your carbon footprint dramatically. A study by the EU Transport and Environment Federation stated that private jets emit 5 to 14 times more emissions per passenger than commercial jets, and 50 times more than trains.

Support Initiatives and Policies that Hold Airlines Accountable

Change must come from the top, so it’s important to support leaders you believe will make a difference and use your money and miles to support airlines and policies you feel are leading the change.

Take Trains Instead of Short-Haul Flights

Studies show that taking a train instead of a plane would reduce your emissions by 86%. While that’s not always possible, especially within the United States, there are places it might be a better choice, like between certain cities in the Northeast or in Europe. Some European countries, such as France and Spain, have actually banned short-haul flights when there’s a train route alternative, the perfect example of how change needs to start from above.

Pack Less

While there isn’t much research on this topic, baggage is heavy. In fact, I’ve taken flights where my baggage probably weighs and takes up more space than I do. In 2018, Finnair calculated that “if every passenger that year had traveled with one kilogram (2.2 pounds) less, the savings on fuel would have covered 20 flights between Helsinki and Tokyo.” Plus, it’s easier to travel light.

Fly More Sustainable Airlines

Presently, all airlines emit carbon. However, some carriers seem more dedicated than others when it comes to sustainable airline fuel (SAF) and other carbon-reducing efforts. According to Sustainability Magazine, United Airlines takes the No. 1 spot for the most sustainable airline, thanks to its investment in SAF. It was also the first airline to commit to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. Delta is a close second, putting more than $1 billion toward sustainability initiatives over a 10-year period.

Make Sustainable Airline Fuel Contributions

As the end of the year approached in 2024, some airlines, like Alaska and JetBlue, offered SAF credits, where you pay for more sustainable fuel in exchange for elite-qualifying miles. While this may only be offered as a special promotion, it’s a much greener alternative than doing a mileage run. Keep an eye out for these promos in the last quarter of each year.

Donate and Support Environmental Organizations You Trust

Instead of buying carbon offsets and choosing unknown programs to use them for, donate or support environmental programs you trust. You can volunteer your time or money on your own terms, taking the time to research the right programs.

Become a More Sustainable Traveler in Other Ways

There are better ways to be a sustainable traveler than buying carbon offsets. Consider eco-friendly hotels and support local businesses in your destination. Follow no-trace principles, and beware of greenwashing. You can even consider getting the American Express^® Green Card, which gives you 3x Membership Rewards points on travel and is made from 70% reclaimed plastic.

All information regarding the American Express^® Green Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.

Final Thoughts

According to an article by the Guardian, Greenpeace UK referred to carbon offsetting schemes as a “jumbo-size greenwash.” And we agree — carbon offsets aren’t a solution. The burden should be on the airlines themselves and their regulatory boards to implement policies that limit or control flights and their emissions. The carbon offset approach feels like the wrong one, and that’s why many airlines, including Delta, have stopped offering them. Instead, the industry (and rightfully so) is working to decarbonize and reduce emissions instead of offloading the burden directly to passengers to make up for them.

According to IATA, many airlines have committed to Fly Net Zero, an initiative for airlines to emit net zero carbon by 2050. Will it happen? Time will tell, but in the meantime, I won’t be buying carbon offsets.