Isn’t this just CO₂ compensation in a new guise? We get that question a lot. And understandably so: paying extra when you cause a lot of emissions sounds familiar. But what we do is not traditional compensation. Here you can read about the difference between CO₂ compensation and paying the real price.
What is CO₂ compensation?
Offset your flight for twenty euros! That sounds great. For just a few bucks, no pollution and no guilt. Too good to be true? It is.
CO₂ compensation works like this: you fly and cause pollution. But you pay a small amount so that someone else somewhere else does something to prevent or remove the same amount of pollution from the air. For example, by planting trees. However, this compensation is often questionable, difficult to monitor, and temporary in nature.
Several studies show that only a fraction of the projects actually capture extra CO₂. Many trees are ultimately cut down anyway or would have been planted regardless. And we call that “compensation.”
The real price: honest, painful, and necessary
The only real solution? Stop flying. But that’s not realistic. That’s why we need to make sure that the true costs of flying are visible. So not just the costs of raw materials (kerosene) or labor (pilots and crew), but also the costs of climate change and air pollution.
Add those costs to the current ticket price and you get the real price. It may not be sexy. It’s certainly not cheap. But it is fair. It reveals what is invisible: who really pays for that business return ticket to London or that long holiday flight. Namely, us as a society, future generations, and nature.
So what makes this different?
That’s a good question. At first glance, it may seem similar to CO₂ offsetting—you pay a little extra, and that money goes to a good cause. But here’s the difference: we don’t promise that your emissions will disappear.
You won’t receive a certificate, a clear conscience, or a nice story about how your flight is suddenly climate neutral. The emissions are there. They contribute to climate change. Period. What you do with us is not buying your way out, but acknowledging. You see the hidden costs and choose to bear them.
We use that money to invest in real, structural solutions. Such as innovation in aviation. In doing so, you are contributing a little bit to a future in which emissions can be reduced.
And just as important: you gain insight. Because once you know what your flight really costs, including for the planet and our children and grandchildren, you will make different choices next time. Perhaps you will choose the train instead of the plane. Or a destination closer to home. It’s up to you. But at least you will have honest information to base your decision on.
