British Airways and emissions trading

British Airways is one of the world’s leading airlines, flying 33 million passengers to 140 destinations in 80 different countries. Our main base is London Heathrow, the world’s busiest international airport.
 

Did you know?

• We are the only airline in the world to have taken part in a carbon emissions trading scheme.
• It was set up by the UK Government in 2002.
• We volunteered to participate because we believe that carbon trading is by far the best mechanism for limiting aviation’s impact on climate change while allowing the industry to grow.

What are we doing?

• Companies were given financial incentives to achieve targets to reduce emissions. If they reduced emissions below their target, they could sell surplus allowances to companies that had failed to meet their target.  

What is the result?

• We reduced our UK emissions by 23% through improving the energy efficiency of our buildings, introducing more fuel-efficient aircraft and rationalising our domestic flights programme.
• We also gained very useful understanding of the mechanics of monitoring and recording emissions and trading allowances.