February.11.2021
Orrick is pleased to announce that it has recently advised Respira, an international carbon finance house, on a transaction which will see Respira supply Etihad Airways with carbon offsets issued from the Makame Savannah project, a REDD project developed by Carbon Tanzania (in Tanzania). The successful arrangement highlights a key feature of the Respira business: to create carbon offset programmes which provide innovative, long-term solutions to global consumers who are seeking to reduce their carbon emissions, and by so doing, unlock capital for the benefit and acceleration of carbon removal and reduction projects.
Respira will supply carbon offsets to Etihad to enable the airline to completely neutralise the carbon emissions from its flagship “Greenliner” 787-10 aircraft for a full year of operations in 2021. This is the start of a long term partnership as Etihad looks to implement its initiative to reduce carbon to 50% of 2019 levels by 2035 and achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
The offset scheme is verified and certified by VERRA, an independent carbon offset quality assurance body, under its Verified Carbon Standard. This ensures carbon offsets are quantifiable, additional and fully sustainable. In addition, the Tanzanian forestry project conforms to Climate, Community and Biodiversity standards, which protect endangered species and local communities; the project employs a community-based model to curb deforestation and promote better management of local natural resources across more than 100,000 hectares in the Tarangire-Manyara ecosystem.
For more information about Respira: https://www.respira-international.com/
The Orrick London E&I team was led by Edward Humphries. We are honoured to be part of this initiative helping to drive a sustainable future for the aviation sector and the global collective purpose to eliminate carbon emissions.