Government plans to bring clarity to the system of carbon offsetting would see most existing schemes fall outside the criteria and have prompted concerns from the industry.
The proposals, released by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs last week, would direct consumers away from voluntary offset schemes currently offered by some travel companies.
Defra plans a voluntary code of practice, but only providers using carbon credits traded on the market established by the Kyoto agreement on climate change will have official verification.
Only four providers – none of them well known in the travel industry – meet the Government’s ‘gold standard’, although Defra said First Choice and Lastminute.com have agreed to do so by the end of the year.
The Kyoto credits mostly cover large industrial projects, which rules out official recognition for many small schemes in poorer countries that form the voluntary carbon offsetting system at the moment.
Although ABTA, the Association of Independent Tour Operators, the Federation of Tour Operators and the Travel Foundation welcomed the Government announcement, they remain concerned about the narrowness of the standard.
Travel Foundation chief executive Sue Hurdle said: “It is vitally important to involve and engage holidaymakers and the destination communities in schemes that are relevant to them, are practical, workable, low cost and easy to implement.
“If the Government was to promote the message that ‘certified is good, and non-certified is bad’, this would undermine much of the good work being done by the travel industry.”
However, carbon offsetting charity Pure – the Clean Planet Trust, which conforms to Defra’s criteria, welcomed the proposals.
Environment secretary David Miliband said a quality mark would assure consumers their money would go to projects that make genuine reductions in carbon dioxide emissions.”