British Airways agrees to landmark deal with CUR8

British Airways has signed an $11m deal with CUR8 to procure 33,000 tonnes of carbon removals credits as part of a six-year offtake agreement. The deal is part of British Airways’ renewed efforts to accelerate its ambitious climate action ahead of 2030.

A carbon removal credit represents one tonne of CO₂ removed from the atmosphere which is physically stored for hundreds to thousands of years. Unlike carbon offsets that pay for the avoidance of emissions or protection of natural carbon sinks (e.g. forests), carbon removal is a new asset class that is universally recognised by scientists to be critical, alongside deep decarbonisation, to stopping climate change.

The deal recognises the pivotal role that carbon removals will play in decarbonising aviation and similarly hard-to-abate sectors. British Airways anticipates that roughly one-third of its net-zero pathway to 2050 will be delivered through carbon removals, with the rest coming from aircraft, operational efficiencies and sustainable aviation fuels.

The investment forms part of the airline’s wider sustainability transformation plan to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 or sooner, which involves a renewed focus on accelerating action to 2030. While small in comparison to the airline’s total emissions, the 33,000 tonnes of carbon removal credits purchased by British Airways are crucial to stimulating the carbon removals market. This is one of the world’s largest removal portfolio offtake agreements, proving the case for multi-year purchasing agreements.

British Airways joined forces with CUR8, a UK-based company specialising in sourcing the highest-quality durable carbon removal from around the world. CUR8 is the leading science, procurement, and management platform for carbon removals, combining the world’s leading climate scientists and software to de-risk corporate net-zero strategies. The airline has purchased 33,000 tonnes of carbon removal credits through its removal portfolio and alongside this will use CUR8’s proprietary Credit Management Platform to ensure that this landmark climate investment delivers on British Airways’ sustainability goals.

CUR8 will manage the portfolio, which comprises six leading global projects each representing innovation across the carbon removal spectrum. The portfolio was sourced, evaluated and procured via CUR8’s rigorous scientific due diligence process. Each project takes a unique approach to tackle a current barrier to scaling its respective removal methods and unlock future growth. British Airways recognises the important leadership role it can play to spur market growth, by making early investments in novel carbon removal approaches to support a transition to net zero for the broader industry.

The portfolio includes a Scottish project pioneering permanent storage of whisky distillery emissions within building materials; Indian biochar initiatives with strong social and community co-benefits; a first-of-its-kind approach to stacking reforestation credits with Welsh Sequoia trees and novel ocean and river projects in North America.

In line with the Revised Oxford Offsetting Principles, which recommends that businesses counterbalance their residual emissions using high-quality carbon removals to achieve net-zero goals, British Airways has bought this portfolio with the further aim of forging strong relationships with the carbon removal projects of the future, developing vital skills for the airline’s future net-zero needs, and helping to invigorate the UK and global removal market.

In addition to supporting early-stage removal innovation, British Airways is signalling its commitment to support the scale-up of mature direct air capture technology. In partnership with CUR8, it has bought removals credits from 1PointFive, a global direct air capture leader set to have the world’s first plant capable of reaching megatonne scale.

Marta Krupinska, CEO of CUR8, said: “British Airways understands that carbon removals are not a nice-to-have, but an essential part of the aviation sector’s net zero journey. We’ve been proud to partner with this aviation leader to build a portfolio that combines the best of nature and human engineering, stretching from UK soils to the oceans and rivers of Canada. At CUR8, we bring together the world’s leading scientists and climate software to help organisations source and manage carbon removals to help de-risk their net zero future. British Airways is a leading brand that recognises that with this early investment, it can help to make an impact not only for themselves but for the industry at large.”

Carrie Harris, Director of Sustainability at British Airways: “As we approach the halfway point in this critical decade of action, we’re sharpening our focus on delivering real, tangible progress by 2030. We know flying has a significant impact on the planet, and achieving net zero by 2050 requires bold, innovative action today, as well as long-term transformation. This partnership with CUR8 reflects our commitment and we’re delighted to be working with them again. While small in comparison to our total emissions, the projects within this portfolio are crucial in stimulating the carbon removals market. By supporting pioneering solutions, we’re not only contributing to immediate progress but also laying the groundwork for the large-scale changes needed to meet our climate goals. There is no pathway to net zero for aviation without carbon removals.”