Qantas customers who choose to fly carbon neutral will be contributing to the protection of the Great Barrier Reef as part of an environmental Reef Credits scheme being supported by the national carrier.
Reef Credits help the reef withstand the effects of climate change by reducing nutrient and sediment run-off from agriculture.
Up to 90 per cent of pollutants flowing into the Reef come from agriculture, which degrade water quality and damage reef ecosystems.
Qantas will partner with local farmers and graziers in the scheme, which incentivises them to undertake sustainable farming practices, improve land management and rehabilitate local ecosystems to reduce runoff damage to the Reef.
Qantas is making an initial investment of $500,000, which constitutes 20 per cent of all Reef Credits sold in the market to date.
This investment supports nine landholders across 10 projects, in a project area of 2500 hectares across six Great Barrier Reef catchments.
Each Reef Credit is the equivalent of 1kg of Dissolved Inorganic Nitrogen (DIN) that is prevented from entering the ocean.
Qantas Group Chief Sustainability Officer Andrew Parker said the project was an example of Qantas’s focus on high quality, high-integrity Australian environmental projects that deliver measurable outcomes.
“The Great Barrier Reef is one of Australia’s most iconic natural assets, it’s a World Heritage listed treasure and a major driver of tourism to the region and the country. Its protection is critical,” Mr Parker said.
“We know that sustainability is a key focus for our customers, and they are particularly interested in supporting projects around Australian natural assets.
“From mid next year, when customers tick the box to offset their flights it will help fund our investment in Reef Credits alongside our other high integrity carbon offsetting projects in Australia and around the world.
“Reef and marine ecosystems play a critical role in carbon sequestration and combatting climate change, and Qantas will continue to look for projects which support the protection of these vital natural assets.”
Sugar cane farmer Jamie Dore, who runs one of the projects on his Tully property, said Reef Credits supported farmers in areas of high rainfall to keep the fertilisers they use on their farms, which had economic as well as environmental benefits.
“We are in a super wet belt and we get around four metres of rainfall a year. Some people would be envious of that but it does make it hard to manage. We need to make sure that all of the fertiliser inputs we put on our farm stay on our farm,” Mr Dore said.
“The good thing about Reef Credits is we can actually put our hand on our heart and say that we’re making a difference. It’s all audited and the records are there for everyone to see.”
Qantas is committed to achieving Net Zero emissions by 2050 through the use of sustainable aviation fuel, operational efficiency and carbon offsetting.
Qantas’ Fly Carbon Neutral program is one of the largest airline offsetting programs in the world, with a focus on high integrity projects in Australia and overseas including supporting indigenous rangers on traditional fire management projects in Northern Australia and protecting large areas of native forests in South American, Oceania and Africa.
More than 10 per cent of customers elect to tick the box to offset their flights when booking on qantas.com.
Since 2019, Qantas has matched customer contributions in the Fly Carbon Neutral program dollar-for-dollar.
The cost of carbon offsetting a flight from Sydney to Melbourne is 98 cents.
Offsetting flights is also one of the steps that frequent flyers can take towards the new Green Tier status which was introduced earlier this year to help members take steps towards reducing their environmental footprint.
The Reef Credits program is managed by independent, not-for-profit company, Eco-Markets Australia. Since the first Reef Credits were generated in 2018, more than 35,500kg of Dissolved Inorganic Nitrogen pollution has been prevented from entering the Great Barrier Reef.
