ZAMBOANGA CITY—Cebu-Pacific Air (CEB), the country’s leading low-fare airline, has partnered with the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) to launch Bright Skies, the country’s first airline carbon-offsetting program, in the middle of this month.
WWF-Philippines information officer Greg Yan said Monday that Bright Skies would encourage Cebu Pacific passengers to take active part in minimizing the environmental impact of air travel, which include the recession of islands, extinction of delicate species, reduction of fresh-water sources, and spread of viral disease.
Yan said all passengers through their ticket prices now have the option to support a Climate-Change adaptation project for Apo Reef in Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro, the world’s second-largest contiguous reef and a virtual food factory for Mindoro and Northern Palawan.
Each passenger’s contribution cost will be precomputed depending on the booked sectors’ actual distance vis-à-vis the estimated amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted by the flight, which will then be included in the passenger’s summary of costs that could be settled via credit cards.
He said carbon-offsetting is becoming popular in the west, where countries are getting concerned with the potentially negative environmental impacts of energy-intensive lifestyles.
Yan said greater amounts of heat from the sun are retained by the rising blanket of emitted gases. The resulting higher temperatures, according to a group of world scientists studying the problem, have started to melt mountain snowcaps, warm the cold northern seas and temperate zone where tropical insects and animals have begun to appear.
It has also led to reduced farm outputs due to drought and floods.
He said the airline industry has doubled its CO2 emissions between 1990 and 2004, indicating that “we should reduce our CO2 emissions by 60 percent before 2050.”
He said the best way to reduce airline impact—short of stopping air travel that in today’s life is “unthinkable”—is for people to think twice before flying or do any form of traveling and only for the most necessary. Offsetting CO2 emissions is an added option that they are implementing, he said.
Founded in 1961, WWF is one of the world’s largest and most effective independent organizations dedicated to the conservation of nature. It operates in around 100 countries, supported by nearly 5 million people worldwide.
WWF-Philippines, also known as Kabang Kalikasan ng Pilipinas (KKP), has been working as a national organization of the WWF network since 1997. Business Mirror