The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) says ICAO Carbon Calculator will be useful in identifying the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from a given flight. It says the Calculator supports the Climate Neutral Initiative of the United Nations (UN) which calls for all agencies and units of the UN system to determine their total carbon emissions.

According to ICAO, the Calculator makes it possible to harmonize the emissions estimates attributable to the air travel component of their operations. The World Tourism Organisation (WTO) is one of the bodies that will be using and promoting the calculator. It further states that the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has recommended the ICAO  methodology to its member airlines for use in their carbon offset programmes, to achieve a more consistent approach to estimating the CO2 footprint of flights. The ICAO Carbon Calculator launched on June 18, 2008 is an impartial, transparent and internationally-approved web-based tool to identify the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from a given flight for use in carbon-offsetting programmes. “We are excited at the potential of the Calculator to help individuals and organizations become part of the solution instead of being part of the problem.

The Carbon Calculator responds to the wish of many travellers for a reliable authoritative method to estimate the carbon footprint of a flight, so they can choose the programme best suited to offset the impact of their trips on climate change according to the amount of CO2 they are responsible for” states Mr. Roberto Kobeh Gonzalez, President of the ICAO Council.

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