Frequently Asked Questions

Emissions of greenhouse gases are typically expressed in a common metric so that their impacts can be directly compared, as some gases are more potent, i.e. have a higher global warming potential than others. The international standard practice is to express greenhouse gases in carbon dioxide equivalents.

Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2eq) stands for a unit based on the global warming potential (GWP) of different greenhouse gases. The CO2eq unit measures the environmental impact of one tonne of these greenhouse gases in comparison to the impact of one tonne of CO2.

Carbon offsetting is the process by which individuals and businesses take accountability for unavoidable emissions by investing in projects such as renewable energy, low emissions cook stoves or energy efficiency projects in developing countries, to reduce the amount of CO2 emissions in the environment.

In effect, carbon offsetting allows you to support environmental and social projects around the world and take responsibility for your carbon footprint by generating equivalent carbon savings elsewhere.

In practical terms, offsetting one tonne of CO2 (one carbon offset) will result in one tonne of CO2 less in the atmosphere compared to what could have been otherwise generated. Offsetting is not a solution to climate change. To address this, we must all reduce emissions. However, well designed, managed and monitored offset projects can reduce the impact of our own emissions and help generate awareness of the need for others to do the same.

As a not-for-profit, Pure Leapfrog provides offsetting as a service. We seek to cover our costs and make a small contribution to our mission of helping communities to benefit from low carbon energy systems.

As part of covering our costs we charge a small handling fee to take account of transactional costs incurred when we buy and retire carbon credits. The handling fee is 35 cents for transactions up to €10 and 60 cents for transactions above €10. This means that we also have a minimum offset charge of €1 to be sure these costs are covered alongside your offset purchase.

We track our transactional costs and the fees we charge and any surplus made on handling fees or minimum charges is passed to selected Irish Projects on a regular basis.  Please note that we are a not for profit organisation so none of these fees are levied by Pure Leapfrog directly.  We manage the scheme so as much funding as possible goes to the offset projects.

First please read the FAQs below. We endeavour to update them regularly based on feedback. You can also email us at aerlinguscarbonneutral@pureleapfrog.org

Key criteria that determine the quality of a credit include:

• Real – The offsets are tangible and measurable
• Additionality – The emissions reduction would not have occurred in the absence of the project.
• Permanence – The project delivers the claimed emissions reductions in a sustained manner over time.
• No Leakage – The emissions reduction achieved with the project does not lead to an increase in emissions elsewhere.
• Retired permanently – Following the sale of the carbon credit, it is permanently removed from the market mechanism, ensuring that there is no double counting or double selling.
• Verifiability – A robust audit trail demonstrating the project’s goals and its delivery against those goals.

The price of a carbon credit depends on many factors, including supply and demand in the market and the quality, type, size, and geographical location of the project – but most importantly, the value that credit creates.

The availability of credits will change depending on supply and demand factors as well. As a charity we don’t profit from providing carbon offsetting as a service to Aer Lingus’ customers. We have to cover some transaction costs when we buy, sell and retire credits but we minimise these as far as is practicable. Any surplus after we have covered these costs is used to support selected Irish projects.

No. Whilst you can support carbon reducing projects in Ireland, you can’t count these towards your carbon neutral status.

The reason for this lies in the Kyoto Protocol and the understanding that countries such as the Republic of Ireland that now have the Climate Change Act are mandated to reduce emissions through domestic efforts. As such, voluntary carbon credits being generated are not seen as additional. In short, more developed countries can buy credits generated in developing or emerging markets. This could change in the future as the Paris Agreement commits many more countries to reduce emissions and we think in the future domestic offsets could be created.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a set of seventeen Global Goals and 169 targets adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015 which provide “a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future”. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which apply to all countries – developed and developing, recognise that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.

Reducing carbon is just one component of making our world a more sustainable place. Carbon offset projects that have other social and environmental outcomes associated with them, help to create a more sustainable world where those in developing countries benefit more holistically from reducing/avoiding carbon.

Regulated, mandatory or compliance carbon offset schemes are regional, national or international regimes, typically backed up with legislation. The most comprehensive and largest of these is the European Emissions Trading Scheme. Organisations falling into these schemes include heavy emitters such as cement manufacturers and coal fired power stations. Credits generated under these schemes are called Certified Emission Reductions (CERs).

Voluntary carbon offset markets enable organisations and individuals to offset their emissions by purchasing offsets that were created either through the Clean Development Mechanism (a UN led initiative born out of the Kyoto Protocol) or in the voluntary market. Voluntary credits help to serve micro projects that are too small to warrant the administrative burden or not covered under compliance schemes. Credits generated under these schemes are called Voluntary Emission Reductions (VERs).

Pure Leapfrog helps organisations and individuals to reduce carbon footprints by supporting communities to develop carbon reducing projects through the voluntary market. All the projects Pure Leapfrog supports reduce carbon emissions.

The International Carbon Reduction and Offset Alliance is a non-profit organisation made up of the leading carbon reduction and offset providers in the voluntary carbon market. ICROA is working with leading academic institutions to understand the drivers of the voluntary market, and to research and demonstrate the additional non-carbon benefits of voluntary offsetting. For example, a recent study by Gold Standard finds that for every carbon credit issued from a clean cook stove project, €256 in economic value is created. For domestic biogas projects, the average value created is €445 per credit.

Aer Lingus guests are given the opportunity to offset at Pure Leapfrog’s website (www.pureleapfrog.org) at the point of booking, or afterwards. We have developed our approach in consultation with Aer Lingus to ensure the website, process used, projects selected and guest confirmations meet their standards. All offset contributions are handled directly through Pure Leapfrog. Aer Lingus is not involved in processing transactions or acquiring credits and receives no income from the offsetting process.

We know that much of our daily activity creates emissions that cause climate change. Equally we know that many communities are dependent upon tourism and that the transportation of goods and services is an essential part of our modern world. So how do we manage our impact when travelling in a way that protects our climate? We are working with Aer Lingus to provide its guests with the opportunity to mitigate their impact by offsetting their flight emissions.

To ensure we cover all administrative costs, the minimum charge for an offset is €1. If there are any surplus funds after the full offset is purchased, these are donated to selected Irish Projects.

Cost per tonne and cost per mile may vary as a result of:

– The project you select – projects vary in price

– Handling fees –  see FAQ about handling fees

– Emissions factors – see FAQ ‘why is it cheaper to go internationally via somewhere in Europe than direct?’

This is because the emissions factors that are applied may differ. For flights originating from the Republic of Ireland to a European destination, the UK government Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) emissions factors for short haul air travel are applied to calculate emissions.

For long haul flights to/from the UK we apply the UK government Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) emissions factors for “long haul to/from the UK”. For long haul flights to/from other countries, we apply the UK government Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) emissions factors called “long haul to/from outside the UK”.

In relation to long haul flights to/from other countries, BEIS notes: “aviation factors were introduced in 2015 where aviation factors are now being presented for international flights between non-UK destinations. This is a relatively high-level analysis and allows users to choose a different factor for air travel if flying between countries outside of the UK. The international factors included are an average of short and long-haul flights, which explains the difference between the UK factors and the international ones”.

The BEIS approach reflects the need for balance between accuracy and complexity in modelling emissions factors.

The carbon credits we are offering vary in price from around €6-€7per tonne.

Each project has a different price depending on technology, location, carbon standard etc.

We gather data from you and combine this with data from the airline and BEIS to calculate your emissions.

This is up to you. Offsets are based on the number of passengers who use a seat on the plane. If your child is old enough to sit in a seat, then you can offset for them. If they are a baby in arms, then no offset is needed.

If you choose to offset using a mix of the available carbon offset projects, we evenly spread your contribution across the projects.

In order to report the greenhouse gas emissions associated with activities, ‘activity data’ such as distance travelled, litres of fuel used or tonnes of waste disposed must be converted into carbon emissions. Conversion factors are generated by the UK government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

The data in the calculator is updated regularly based on:

• Changes to flight destinations
• New emissions factor data issued by the UK government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS)
• Other changes to emissions regimes

All projects presented are certified to a quality standard that is either the Gold Standard (GS), Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) aka Verra, or the UN’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Some of the projects also have additional co-benefit certifications to the Climate, Community & Biodiversity Alliance (CCBA) and SocialCarbon standard.

The above certifications are also in line with the ICROA Code of Best Practice list of quality credible standards.

We purchase and retire offset credits periodically, usually monthly and more frequently if volumes are higher.

At this time, we do not develop offset projects. Instead, we select high-quality existing projects. Our partners, EcoAct and Ecosphere+, is a carbon offset project developer and also works with other project developers.

EcoAct was founded in 2005 is a leading carbon offset project developer and retailer with unique expertise in planning for and implementing positive change in response to climate and carbon challenges.

EcoAct is a co-founder of the International Carbon Reduction and Offset Alliance (see below).

In accordance with ICROA’s Code of Best Practice, all EcoAct’s carbon offsets are certified by credible third parties and certification standards and are retired within 12 months of purchase. They correspond to real, measurable, permanent, additional, independently verified and unique emissions reductions. EcoAct carry out extra screening (above and beyond certification standards) on the carbon offset projects offered to ensure that the projects which the customers support are robust and really deliver CO2 savings.

Ecosphere+ is a mission-driven business that helps companies create and implement nature-based solutions that enable them to succeed in a world aligned with global climate and development goals.

Ecosphere+ sell high-quality forest carbon credits, verified to two of the most widely used and well-respected standards. Whilst going even further with their industry-leading ESG and by translating tonnes of carbon into different measurable impacts that are relevant to our customers, such as number people directly supported, number trees saved, impact on women.

Projects are audited by an independent third party over a specified period and a verification report is then issued which confirms the number of credits the project can issue. Typically, this happens on an annual basis.

If you choose to offset using a mix of the available carbon offset projects, we evenly spread your contribution across the projects.

CORSIA, the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation, addresses the increase in total CO2 emissions from international aviation above 2020 levels. CORSIA’s obligations have already started. As of 1 January 2019, all carriers are required to report their CO2 emissions on an annual basis.

Research by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) indicates that CO2 and other gases have a greater effect when released at altitude (than on land). However, the relative scale of impact is uncertain and subject to ongoing research. As a consequence, we are using a radiative forcing index of 1. This will be updated once information becomes available.