Cathay Pacific is introducing its carbon-offset program for its air cargo services.

The Hong Kong-based airline said it is extending its "Fly Greener" to its freight operations as part of the airline's commitment to tackling climate change by achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The new carbon emissions calculator works out the carbon emissions of shipments and the cost to offset them in a few simple steps, Cathay said. Its customers can then make a contribution to purchase carbon offsets that come from carefully selected carbon-offset projects.

"The carbon emissions calculator is another tool we have made available to help our customers achieve their sustainability targets to make our business and our industry more sustainable," said George Edmunds, general manager cargo commercial at Cathay.

"In tandem with our promotion and development of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) capabilities, the calculator will give our customers the flexibility to offset their carbon emissions via a suite of accredited carbon offset projects."

The carbon-offset programme follows the launch earlier this year of Cathay Pacific's Corporate Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Programme, which brings SAF into Hong Kong International Airport for the first time and provides corporate customers with the opportunity to reduce their carbon footprint from business travel and air cargo shipments by contributing to the use of SAF.

Cathay noted that its customers have already been able to estimate their potential carbon emissions by searching for flight connections with the emission calculator on the Cathay Pacific Cargo site, but with this launch, registered customers using the website will be able to offset their shipments by air waybill (AWB) number.

The airline also noted that the monetary contributions go directly to fund third-party validated projects that help to offset the CO2 generated by shipments, through carbon credits bought by Cathay Pacific and passed on to customers at cost and that the airline makes no profit in the carbon-offset transactions.

In the launch phase, Cathay Pacific said the carbon emissions calculator will accept retrospective AWB numbers, but future iterations will see the tool built into Cathay Pacific Cargo's digital booking and confirmation solution, Click & Ship. Customers will be able to add offsets directly to their bookings in a one-click process.

"We are excited to be driving industry leadership in Asia for sustainability, and we look forward to working with our customers to promote sustainable air cargo shipments," said Chris Bowden, head of cargo global partnerships. 

"We know that carbon-offset calculations can be complex and need to be accurate for sustainability auditing purposes. We believe that the ease and simplicity of Fly Greener and the carbon emissions calculator make the rigour and complexity that goes into carbon emissions calculations straightforward and user-friendly, which is something our customers have been actively seeking," he added.

Cathay Pacific was among the first carriers in the world to announce a target of 10% SAF in its total fuel use by 2030.