Benefits and Improvement of Carbon Offset Programme: Fly Greener

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In the twenty-first century, global warming must be one of the biggest issues that human being would have to face. A lot of research have already been carried out, which shows that the effect of global warming would be disastrous (Parry M. et al. 2007), such as flooding of low-lying area and extreme climate. The whole country of Maldives may even disappear and be flooded with water in the future. Actions should be done as soon as possible. Out of surprise, instead of the government, a business company, Cathay Pacific, has started to respond to this issue. Since 2008, Cathay Pacific has started the Fly Greener programme in order to help the environment and raise the awareness of people in global warming. This essay will focus on the advantage of the scheme and will also note some points that are still needed to improve. Basically, the Fly Greener programme is a carbon offset programme, which is totally voluntary. If the passenger is willing to participate, the passenger will have to pay money to Cathay Pacific, which is equivalent to the amount of carbon dioxide emitted during their flight (CX 2010). Then, Cathay Pacific will directly invest all the money to carbon-compensating projects, such as the development of renewable energy (CX 2010). This programme follows the "Polluters Pay Principle" strictly, which would raise the awareness of the public to the issue. According to a research, the emissions of carbon dioxide by aircraft is about 2 % of the total anthropogenic carbon dioxide, and about 13% of carbon dioxide emissions from all transportation sources (IPCC 1999). Although it is not a very high figure, it is still contributing to global warming. The demand for aircraft transport keep on rising due to the economic growth of developing countries. It is estimated that the carbon dioxide emitted by aircraft will be increased by three times by 2050 (IPCC 1999).
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