great difference for the overall footprint calculations for institution in which a very large fraction (70-80%) of staff air travel takes place in premium classes.

The ICAO calculator (used for individuals to calculate their footprints) includes one refinement of standard procedure, by using a factor of 2 for the footprint of premium (business and first) classes relative to economy class. We have gone a step further in this direction by attempting to calculate this factor more precisely than has been done previously in the literature. But more can be done to make such calculations even more precise. One such factor is more precise (flightspecific) information. In addition, the climate forcing issue (where we have assumed only a basic, unit, forcing factor) could by in principle imply a higher footprint from air travel more generally (we do not in our calculations adjust for additional forcing factors).

This leads in turn to issues related to offsetting that are potentially important but beyond the scope of this paper. As with other international institutions, the World Bank Group (WBG) is concerned with the GHG emission impacts of its overall institutional activity.<sup>29</sup> A correct measurement of aviation-related emissions is essential for keeping track of the institution’s total contribution to global GHG emissions.

The WBG has an expressed policy to be at the forefront in areas of environmental sustainability, which includes a proper carbon footprint measurement, and the ability to correctly offset these emissions.<sup>30</sup> While most similar institutions today accept the principle of offsetting of GHG emissions from staff air travel, no major institution, including the WBG, has to date any offset program based on calculations developed in this report. Indeed, our approach is radical in the sense that it in some respects extends well beyond currently accepted standards for measuring carbon footprints of air travel, by making them more precise. The WBG could, by its approach to measuring its own footprint, lead the way in establishing more accurate such measures.

Aside from how much to offset – an issue with philosophical and political as well as economic and environmental dimensions – a second consideration is how to offset. A relevant current issue in this regard is that the European Union, from 2012 on, has embedded all flight activity within and to and from the EU countries in the EU-ETS, which requires all airlines to hold quotas to cover the respective assessed emissions. Appropriately embedding the WBG’s flight activity to and from the EU area in the EU-ETS would be one way for the WBG to mitigate its air travel emissions, as distinct from only purchasing offsets for this activity. The ultimate status of this EU initiative is currently uncertain, however, and we are currently awaiting initiatives

> 29 For an overview of the WBG’s carbon footprint and how this is currently measured, see: <u>http://crinfo.worldbank.org/wbcrinfo/node/23#MeasuringGHG. For a presentation of the WBG’s more general</u> offsetting policy in the context of corporate responsibility, see http://crinfo.worldbank.org/wbcrinfo/node/7. 30 For extensive information on these issues, see the WBG’s corporate responsibility website: <u>http://crinfo.worldbank.org/wbcrinfo/.</u>

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