Flight Emissions

Global Measurement Standards

The UN ICAO organization aggregates airline carbon emissions data from 190+ reporting countries, including aircraft types, fuel consumption, passenger/freight ratios and passenger load factors. Using this and a radiative forcing factor of 1.9 we calculate emissions of flights either using real data when available, or with averages based on most common flight routes to and from destinations-including typical stop overs to account for take-offs.

Radiative Forcing Explained

When flying at altitude, planes emit planet warming pollutants beyond CO2-such as water vapour, aerosols and nitrogen oxides. According to a special report by the IPCC, this results in aviation having an overall climate impact two to four times higher than from CO2 emissions alone. Learn more here