"carbonwise" has a strong educational element, with an addictive 'Carbon Ready Reckoner' showing the carbon emissions from various flights.  In order to make clear the huge climate impact of flying the 'tonnes of CO₂' figure is translated into household analogies.  For example, choose a return flight to Athens, and the 0.53 tonnes of CO₂ is equivalent to 'leaving the kettle boiling for 26 days'. 

CEO of lastminute.com, Ian McCaig, said:  "It's an upfront approach but one which underlines our commitment to the cause, and we are confident that lastminute.com customers will feel that they want to make a difference".

In the first 4 days of carbonwise, one in ten customers chose to pay for the carbon from their flight.

Mike Mason described the approach as 'pioneering and responsible', and commended lastminute.com for "taking a real lead in educating customers and making them look actively at their choices."  "Without such education" he said "we have no chance of winning the war against a climate catastrophe."

The scheme is backed by the government.  It signals that major travel companies are now prepared to follow the recommendations of the Sustainable Consumption Roundtable (SCR), and make carbon offsets a compulsory choice in every flight booking, which the SCR stated could "spread the awareness needed to build a mandate for bolder political action".

lastminute.com's customers will be funding two projects initially:  an ecostove project in Nicaragua and a scheme to recycle waste cooking oil for use as biofuel in the Bahamas.

Visit the very engaging lastminute.com/carbonwise

Carbonwise press release